Biographical Sketches of the Delegates from Georgia to the Continental Congress

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1

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JBarbarti College ILtSrars

FROM THE

BRIGHT LEGACY,

Descendants of Henry BripM jr.. who died ^""7;
to W »,M«*>.. in rfB6>f* entitled m hold scholarships in
Harvard College, established in iSSo under the will of

JONATHAN BROWN BKIGHT
of Walthain, Mass., with one Inilf the income of this
Lntf*£Y. Such descendants failing, other persons are
eligible to the IcboUrthlpfc The will rwur&tjtet
thil announcement shall he made En every book added
10 the Library under its provisions.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

OF THE DELEGATES FROM GEORGIA

TO THE CONTINENTAL

CONGRESS

BY n

CHARLES C. JONES, JR., LL.D.

AUTHOR OP "THB HISTORY OF GEORGIA/' " NEGRO MYTHS PROM
THE GEORGIA COAST," ETC.

: yfismtimx

^ BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY

©&e Btoewtoe P?e*a, Cambrttrge

1 891

1."

iH>/

/

(vi<~Vw,Cr "W^

Copyright, 1891,
By CHARLES C. JONES, JB.

AU rights reserved.

The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass,, U. 8. A.
Printed fcy H. 0. Houghton & Company.

To
THOMAS ADDIS EMMET, M.D., LL.D.,

OF NBW YORK CITY,

WHOSE INTELLIGENT, GENEROUS, AND INDEFATIGABLE

RESEARCHES AND ACQUISITIONS

HATE ACCOMPLISHED SO MUCH IN RESCUING FROM OBLIVION

NAMES AND EVENTS

MEMORABLE IN THE HISTORY OF AMERICA,

&btft &actrifc0

ARE CORDIALLY INSCRIBED.

CONTENTS.

PACT

BENJAMIN ANDREW 1

ABRAHAM BALDWIN 5

NATHAN BROWNSON 11

ARCHIBALD BULLOCH 14

JOSEPH CLAY 28

WILLIAM FEW 34

WILLIAM GIBBONS 40

JAMES GUNN 44

BUTTON GWINNETT 48

JOHN HABERSHAM 68

JOSEPH HABERSHAM 80

LYMAN HALL 88

JOHN HOUSTOUN 106

WILLIAM HOUSTOUN 118

RICHARD HOWLEY 120

NOBLE WYMBERLEY JONES 124

EDWARD LANGWORTHY 137

LACHLAN McINTOSH 139

WILLIAM PIERCE 156

SAMUEL STIRK 160

EDWARD TELFAIR 161

GEORGE WALTON 168

JOHN WALTON 199

JOSEPH WOOD 201

JOHN JOACHIM ZUBLY 203

PREFACE.

In the retaliatory acts passed by the Royalist Assem-
bly which convened in Savannah in 1780, the follow-
ing members from Georgia of the Continental Congress
were attainted of high treason ; their property, real and
personal, was vested in the Crown ; and they were de-
clared incapable of holding or exercising any office of
trust, honor, or profit : —

a John Houstoun, Rebel Governor.
Lachlan McIntosh, Rebel General.
George Walton, Member of Rebel Congress.
Joseph Clay, Rebel Paymaster-General.
N. Wymberley Jones, Speaker of Rebel Assembly.
Edward Telfair, Member of Rebel Congress.
Richard Howlet, Rebel Governor.
William Few, Rebel Counselor.
Edward Langworthy, Rebel Delegate.
Joseph Wood, Member of the Rebel Congress.
Benjamin Andrew, President of the Rebel Council.
Nathan Brownson, Member of Rebel Congress.
Lyman Hall, Member of the Rebel Congress.
Joseph Habersham, Rebel Colonel.
John Habersham, Rebel Major.
William Gibbons, the elder, Rebel Counselor.
Samuel Stirk, Rebel Secretary."

vi PREFACE.

Eight more there are — most of them subsequently
elected — whose names do not appear upon this black
list. This legislation had been provoked by, and
was in retaliation for, an act passed on the 1st of
March, 1778, by the Republican General Assembly of
Georgia, by the terms of which various parties who
clave to the fortunes of the Crown were attainted of
high treason, their property, both real and personal,
was confiscated to the State, and boards of commis-
sioners were appointed for the purpose of selling their
estates and covering the proceeds into the public
treasury.

Behold the fearful condition of affairs then dominant
in Georgia ! Royalists and Republicans contending
for the mastery, not only with arms, but each by
solemn legislation denouncing the other as traitors,
and declaring private property a spoil to that govern-
ment which could first lay hands upon it ! Surely no
darker picture was ever painted in the history of civil
wars, the most bloody and unrelenting of all strifes.
The devastating tread of contending armies — pushed
backwards and forwards over the face of a smitten
country, crushing the life out of habitations and filling
the land with marks of desolation and the scars of
battle — is terrible ; but far more severe is that
fratricidal conflict which disrupts the ties of blood,
unseats mercy, dethrones humanity, abolishes the right
to private property, and gives the region over to

PREFACE. 1 Vll

general confiscation, plunder, and murder. Other
States there were within whose borders were heard,
during the progress of the Revolution, the thunders
of broader battles, but truly none can be named in
which the calamities of a divided government and
the horrors of internecine dissensions were more pro-
nounced.

At that epoch of distraction and peril, there was
a deal of courage and sacrifice involved in accepting
the position of member from Georgia of the Continen-
tal Congress.

Of all the English Provinces in America, Georgia
had least cause to revolt against the Mother Country.
Since her settlement, that Colony had received, by
grant of Parliament, nearly £200,000, besides gener-
ous bounties lavished in aid of silk-culture and agri-
cultural products, and various private benefactions.
This fact weighed with no little force upon the minds
of many ; and Governor Wright sought every oppor-
tunity to inculcate gratitude towards a government
whose paternal interest had been so kindly manifested.
For years he presided over the Province with im-
partiality, wisdom, and firmness. Through his watch-
ful care the Colony had been delivered from the
horrors of Indian warfare and guided into the paths
of peace and plenty. By his negotiations millions of
acres were added to the public domain. Diligent in
the discharge of his official duties, strong in his

Vlll PREFACE.

resolves, just in the exercise of his powers, loyal in
his opinions, courteous in his intercourse, thrifty in
the conduct of his private affairs, and exhibiting the
operations of a vigorous and well-balanced judgment,
he secured the respect and the affection of his people.
Although differing from many of the inhabitants upon
the political questions which were then dividing the
public mind, he never suffered himself to be betrayed
into acts of violence or of revenge. He preferred to
counsel, to enlighten, and to exhort. It excites no
surprise, therefore, that his influence — vigorously
exerted in encouraging loyalty to his royal master
and submission to the acts of Parliament — should
have had great weight in retarding the progress of
rebel thought, and in restraining Georgia, at the out-
set, from casting her lot with her sister American
Colonies, and commissioning delegates through whom
she might participate in the adoption of measures
which precipitated the war of the Revolution. The
apparent tardiness and hesitancy on the part of the
Province in joining the Confederation at the inception
of those movements which culminated in a declaration
of independence may be further excused or accounted
for when we remember that she was, of all the origi-
nal Thirteen Colonies, the youngest and least prepared
for the struggle, and when we recall the fact that
Schovilites, leagued with Indians, were scourging her
borders, and awakening, in the breasts even of the

PREFACE. IX

most patriotic and daring, gravest apprehensions for
the safety of their wives and children. In the lan-
guage of Captain McCall, " The charge of inactiv-
ity vanishes when the sword and hatchet are held
over the heads of the actors to compel them to lie
still."

While the record of the services of the members
from Georgia in the Continental Congress may not
be as brilliant or as valuable as that of some of
the Delegates from other Colonies (with the exception
of the Reverend Doctor Zubly, and possibly of General
Gunn, who never took his seat), they were all good and
true men, capable and most earnest in the support of
the common cause. Many of them were gentlemen of
high culture, superior education, and attractive social
and political virtues. Fourteen of them, in one capa-
city or another, bore arms in the struggle for inde-
pendence ; ten were members of the legal profession ;
six were merchants ; three were physicians j one was
a clergyman ; and not less than ten were interested
in agricultural operations. Engraved portraits have
been made of Abraham Baldwin, Archibald Bulloch,
Joseph Clay, William Few, Button Gwinnett, John
Habersham, Joseph Habersham, Lyman Hall, Noble
Wymberley Jones, Lachlan Mcintosh, and George
Walton. Of the others, so far as we can discover,
no likenesses exist

After the lapse of so many years, and in the absence

X PREFACE.

of recorded memories, it is difficult, nay impossible,
to present as full and accurate sketches as we would
wish. Having, however, utilized all the materials at
command, we commit this manuscript to the printer
in the hope that what we have attempted for Georgia
may be better accomplished by others in behalf of
the remaining commonwealths associated in the brave
and patriotic Confederation of " The Original Thir-
teen."

Augusta, Georgia, 1891.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

BENJAMIN ANDREW.

Born in Dorchester, South Carolina, about 1730,
Mr. Andrew led the life of a planter. He came of
that sturdy Puritan congregation which, abandoning
England in 1630, after a residence of some sixty-five
years in Massachusetts, removed to South Carolina
and formed a settlement on the northeast bank of
the Ashley River about eighteen miles above Charles
Town. In 1754 Mr. Andrew, bringing his family with
him, left Dorchester in South Carolina, and made a
new home in the Midway District, subsequently con-*
stituting a part of St John's Parish in the Colony of
Georgia. Here he became the owner of a swamp
plantation and engaged in the cultivation of rice.

In the preliminary discussions and demonstrations
which eventuated in a declaration of independence on
the part of the parish of St John and afterwards of
the Colony of Georgia, Mr. Andrew allied himself with
the revolutionists, and, in company with Lyman Hall,
Button Gwinnett, Daniel Roberts, Samuel Stevens,
Joseph Wood, Daniel Baker, and other local patriots,
was earnest in the support of the rights of the Ameri-
can provinces in their struggle with Great Britain for
liberation from kingly rule.

In the spring of 1773 William Bartram, the natural-

2 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

ist, who, at the request of Dr. Fothergill, of London,
had undertaken a visit to the Floridas "for the dis-
covery of rare and useful productions of nature, chiefly
in the vegetable kingdom," gives us this glimpse of
the home of Mr. Andrew, then not many miles distant
from Midway Meeting House in St. John's Parish. "In
the evening," writes Mr. Bartram, "I arrived at the
seat of the Hon: B. Andrew's, Esq , who received and
entertained me in every respect as a worthy gentle-
man would a stranger, that is, with hearty welcome,
plain but plentiful board, free conversation, and liber-
ality of sentiment I spent the evening very agree-
ably, and the day following (for I was not permitted
to depart sooner) I viewed with pleasure this gentle-
man's exemplary improvements in agriculture, partic-
ularly in the growth of rice, and in his machines for
shelling that valuable grain, which stands in the water
almost from the time it is sown until within a few days
before it is reaped, when they draw off* the water by
sluices, which ripens it all at once; and when the heads,
or panicles, are dry ripe, it is reaped, and left standing
in the field in small ricks until the straw is quite dry,
when it is hauled and stacked in the barnyard. The
machines for cleaning the rice are worked by the force
of water. They stand on the great reservoir which
contains the waters that flood the rice-fields below.

" Towards the evening we made a little party at fish-
ing. We chose a shaded retreat in a beautiful grove
of magnolias, myrtles, and sweet bay trees, which were
left standing on the bank of a fine creek, that from
this place took a slow serpentine course through the
plantation. We presently took some fish, one kind of
which is very beautiful ; they call it the red-belly. It

BENJAMIN ANDREW. 3

is as large as a man's hand, nearly oval and thin, be-
ing compressed on each side; the tail is beautifully
formed ; the top of the head and back of an olive
green, besprinkled with russet specks ; the sides of a
sea-green, inclining to azure, insensibly blended with
the olive above, and beneath lightens to a silvery
white or pearl color, elegantly powdered with specks
of the finest green, russet, and gold ; the belly is of a
bright scarlet red, or vermilion, darting up rays or
fiery streaks into the pearl on each side ; the ultimate
angle of the branchiostega extends backwards with a
long spatula, ending with a round or oval particoloured
spot representing the eye in the long feathers of a pea-
cock's train, verged round with a thin flame-coloured
membrane, and appears like a brilliant ruby fixed on
the side of the fish ; the eyes are large, encircled with
a fiery iris ; they are a voracious fish, and are easily
caught with a suitable bait.

"The next morning I took leave of this worthy
family, and sat off for the settlements on the Ala-
tamaha, still pursuing the high road for Fort Barring-
ton, till towards noon, when I turned off to the left,
following the road to Darian, a settlement on the river
twenty miles lower down and near the coast." l

We offer no apology for making this quotation, be-
cause it conveys a pleasant impression of person and
place. Of the first Executive Council convened upon
the election of John Adam Treutlen as governor of
Georgia in 1777, Benjamin Andrew was chosen presi-
dent, with Samuel Stirk as clerk. Three years after-
wards Mr. Andrew was elected a member of the Con-

1 Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, etc., etc., by Wil-
liam Bartram, pp. 11, 12. London, 1792.

4 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

tinental Congress. His associates were Edward Telfair,
George Walton, Lyman Hall, and William Few. Upon
the conclusion of the war of the Revolution Mr. An-
drew became an associate justice for the county of
Liberty, and in that capacity sat for several terms
with Chief Justice Walton.

One of his sons bore arms in the primal contest
for freedom, and subsequently removed from Liberty
County to Washington, Wilkes County, where, on the
3d of May, 1794, a son was born unto him, — James
Osgood Andrew by name, — who acquired some promi-
nence as a Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
South. The honorable Benjamin Andrew died in Lib-
erty County, Georgia, toward the close of the last
century.

ABRAHAM BALDWIN.

When his brother-in-law, the poet Joel Barlow, in
speaking of the subject of this sketch, remarked that
" the annals of our country have rarely been adorned
with a character more venerable, or a life more use-
ful than that of Abraham Baldwin,'* he indulged in no
flattery, but uttered a well merited compliment Of
all the members from Georgia of the Continental Con-
gress, none may be named more scholarly in his attain-
ments, more conscientious in the discharge of duty,
more observant of the obligations of the hour, or more
useful in the aims and scope of his labors. His chosen
way of life lay not across the " weltering field of the
tombless dead." On the contrary, his path to prefer-
ment was dignified by a dispassionate consideration of
grave political problems, — by a calm ascertainment
and vindication of the constitutional rights of indi-
viduals, states, and nation, — by statesmanlike presen-
tation of the true theory of republicanism in America,
and by the promulgation and maintenance of schemes
which aimed at the promotion of universal justice, the
sustentation of liberty, the higher education of the
masses, and the elevation and the happiness of his fel-
low-man. His mission was exalted, and to its accom-
plishment he brought a pure heart, — chastened by
the influence of a holy religion, — a mind well stored
with the learning of the age, much native ability, and
tireless industry. Born in Guilford, Connecticut, on

6 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHE8.

the 6th of November, 1754, his collegiate course was
pursued at Yale College, whence he graduated in 1772.
From 1775 to 1779 he held a tutor's position in that
institution. During the last three years of this term,
however, and until the close of the revolutionary war
he served in the field in the capacity of a chaplain.
Upon the consummation of peace, abandoning the
clerical profession, he became a student of law. It was
upon the recommendation of General Nathanael Greene
that Mr. Baldwin removed from Connecticut and ac-
quired citizenship in Georgia early in 1784. Shortly
after his arrival in Savannah he was there called to
the Bar. Three months afterwards, he was elected a
member of the Georgia Legislature, where he origi-
nated the plan of the University of Georgia, drew its
charter, secured from the State an endowment of forty
thousand acres of land, and indicated the catholic lines
along which that valuable institution of learning has
ever since moved. From the preamble to this charter
which, as a whole, has evoked encomiums from the
learned and the virtuous, we make the following ex-
tract as illustrating the wisdom and patriotism of Mr.
Baldwin : " As it is the distinguishing happiness of
free governments that civil order should be the result
of choice and not of necessity, and the common wishes
of the people become the laws of the land, their public
prosperity and even existence very much depend
upon suitably forming the minds and morals of their
citizens. When the minds of the people in general are
viciously disposed and unprincipled, and their conduct
disorderly, a free government will be attended with
greater confusions and evils more horrid than the wild,
uncultivated state of nature. It can only be happy

ABRAHAM BALDWIN. 7

when the public principles and opinions are properly
directed, and their manners regulated. This is an in-
fluence beyond the reach of laws and punishments,
and can be claimed only by religion and education.
It should therefore be among the first objects of those
who wish well to the national prosperity to encourage
and support the principles of religion and morality,
and early to place the youth under the forming hand
of society, that by instruction they may be moulded
to the love of virtue and good order. Sending them
abroad to other countries for their education will not
answer these purposes, is too humiliating an acknow-
ledgment of the ignorance or inferiority of our own,
and will always be the cause of so great foreign at-
tachments that upon principles of policy it is inad-
missible."

The State of Georgia was then in a most impover-
ished condition. The losses and distractions experi-
enced during the war just ended had been immense.
In the face of every retarding circumstance Mr. Bald-
win compassed this important measure ; and the Uni-
versity of Georgia is to-day a living monument of his
wisdom, prescience, and patriotism. The munificence
of the Hon. John Milledge, and the cooperative aid of
Governor John Houstoun and the honorables James
Habersham, William Few, Joseph Clay, William Hous-
toun, and Nathan Brownson, were potent factors in the
consummation of this educational scheme, which for a
century has proven of incalculable benefit to the com-
monwealth of Georgia. Had he performed no public
duty other than this, Mr. Baldwin's title to the grati-
tude of succeeding generations would have been un-
questioned.

8 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

His political advancement was rapid. In 1785 he
was elected by the Legislature to a seat in the Conti-
nental Congress, and from that time until the day of
his death he remained in the public service. When
he died, four years of his second term as United States
Senator from Georgia had not expired.

Of the convention which, in 1787, framed the Con-
stitution of the United States, he was a very active
member. It is stated on good authority that some of
the essential clauses of that memorable instrument
were formulated by him.

" His manner of conducting business," says the au-
thor of the sketch which appears in the fourth volume
of "The National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished
Americans," " was worthy of the highest commenda-
tion ; he may have wanted ambition to make himself
brilliant, but he never wanted industry to make him-
self useful. His oratory was simple, forcible, convin-
cing. His maxim of never asserting anything but
what he believed to be true could not fail to be useful
in carrying conviction to others. Patient of contradic-
tion, and tolerant to the wildest opinions, he could be
as indulgent to the errors of judgment in other men
as if he had stood the most in need of such indulgence
for himself."

Mr. Baldwin was a Federalist. So manly was his
course in Congress and in the Senate of the United
States, so conservative were his views, so conscientious
was his conduct in the discussion of all constitutional
questions, and so steadfast his adherence to what he
cenceived to be the cardinal principles of government,
that he acquired and retained in a wonderful degree
the confidence of the party to which he was attached,

ABRAHAM BALDWIN. 9

the respect of those who held different notions with
regard to the political questions which then agitated
the country, and the approbation of his constituents.
Of him it has been truthfully said that he "died with
the consciousness of having faithfully and fearlessly
filled the measure of his public duties."

In private life he was correct in all his habits, and
given to benevolent deeds. Never having married, he
expended his accumulations in assisting worthy young
men in acquiring an education and in establishing
them in business. In this regard his charities were
akin to those which so beautified the life of Alexander
H. Stephens. Upon the death of his father in 1787,
he assumed in large measure the payment of his debts
and the maintenance and education of his six orphan
children. So far as the record stands, the reputation
of Mr. Baldwin for purity of character, honesty of pur-
pose and act, fidelity to trust reposed, and genuine
benevolence, is most admirable.

To Connecticut is Georgia greatly indebted for Ly-
man Hall and Abraham Baldwin. Of their adopted
citizenship she is justly proud, and in token of her
appreciation of their virtuous lives and useful services,
she perpetuates their names by two of her counties.

Mr. Baldwin died in harness as a Senator from
Georgia, and at the national capital, on the 4th of
March, 1807. His last illness was short, and his re-
mains were interred by the side of his friend and for-
mer colleague General James Jackson, whom, just one
year before, he had followed to the tomb. Although
his funeral occurred two days after the adjournment of
Congress, many members remained to testify, by their
presence, their personal appreciation of the great loss

10 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

which had been sustained by State and nation. In
1801, and also in 1802, Mr. Baldwin served as presi-
dent pro tempore of the Senate ; and while in Congress
he voted in favor of locating the seat of government
on the Potomac. 1

1 For a fuller sketch of the Hon. Abraham Baldwin, see volume iv. of
The National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Americans. Philadelphia,
1839.

NATHAN BROWNSON.

It was upon the invitation of Dr. John Dunwody
that Dr. Brownson became a resident of St John's
Parish in the Province of Georgia, and there entered
upon the practice of his profession. We are told that
he graduated at Yale College in 1761, and that he
received his degree of Doctor of Medicine from some
Northern institution ; but we are not informed of what
colony he was a native. Arriving in St. John's Parish,
he purchased a small plantation scarcely two miles dis-
tant from the present village of Riceboro, in Liberty
County, where he builded a home, and with a few
slaves began the cultivation of rice. His reputation
in the community as a man of intelligence, of sterling
qualities, and of excellent professional attainments, was
quickly established. At an early date he manifested
a lively interest in public affairs, espousing the patriot
cause.

Of the Provincial Congress which assembled in Sa-
vannah on the 4th of July, 1775, he was a member
' accredited from the parish of St. John.

Twice was he honored by Georgia with a seat in
the Continental Congress ; and on the 16th of August,
1781, he was elected governor of that commonwealth.
The political skies were then brightening. Augusta
had been rescued from the possession of the enemy,
and renewed efforts were being made for the recovery
of other portions of the State.

12 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

Eight days after his induction into office, Governor
Brownson, with the intention of strengthening the
manhood of Georgia, issued a proclamation requiring
all persons who considered themselves citizens of the
commonwealth to return to their homes within speci-
fied periods, under penalty of being subjected to the
payment of a treble tax to be levied upon all lands
owned by them within the limits of the State. Many
wanderers were thus recalled, who, having forsaken
their plantations in Georgia, had sought refuge in the
Carolinas and in Virginia. The salary then allowed
the governor was at the rate of £500 per annum.

On the 6th of June, 1782, he was appointed Deputy
Purveyor for the Southern Hospitals, and at one time
during the war he served in the capacity of surgeon
in the Continental army.

In the establishment of the state university he took
a lively interest. He was named among the grantees
to whom Georgia made cession of forty thousand acres
of land for educational purposes, and he was one of
the original trustees appointed, in 1785, to promote
the establishment of an institution of learning. He
was twice Speaker of the House of Representatives,
and in 1791 presided over the State Senate. Of the
convention which, in 1788, ratified the Constitution
of the United States, and of the convention which, in N
1789, amended the Constitution of Georgia, he was a
member. He was also a commissioner on behalf of
the State to superintend the erection of the public
buildings at Louisville, in Jefferson County, prepara-
tory to the removal of the seat of government from
Augusta to that place.

It will thus be perceived that Dr. Brownson was

NATHAN BROWNSON. 13

honored with many public trusts. In the discharge
of them all he was capable and most conscientious.
There was scarcely any time when his attention was
not directed to the performance of some important
duty confided to him by his fellow-citizens.

He died upon his plantation in Liberty County, on
the 6th of November, 1796. Among the purest pa-
triots and most useful citizens of this region will he
always be numbered. The venerable Major Andrew
Maybank, who was personally acquainted with Dr.
Brownson, related this anecdote : Mrs. Brownson,
while a good and faithful wife, was not always pliable,
or prompt in responding to the requests of her hus-
band. On occasions the Doctor has been known, in a
playful way, to say to her : " Have a care ; if you do
not acquiesce in my wish, when I am dead I will come
back and plague you." Years after the Doctor's de-
mise, the old lady, — his widow, — as she would brush
from her nose some vexatious fly or annoying insect,
has been heard to exclaim : " Go away, Doctor Brown-
son ; " and as the persistent fly or pertinacious gnat
would return, she would, with emphatic gesture and
in decided tone, repeat the injunction : " Go away, I
tell you, Doctor Brownson, and stop bothering me."

ARCHIBALD BULLOCH.

Of all the patriots who encountered peril and made
strenuous exertion to deliver Georgia from kingly
dominion and pave the way for her admission into the
sisterhood of the confederated American colonies, no
one was more earnest, self-sacrificing, valiant, or influ-
ential than the honorable Archibald Bulloch. Of irre-
proachable character, firm in his convictions, brave of
heart, bold in action, wise in counsel, jealous of indi-
vidual and political rights, and thoroughly identified
with the best interests of Savannah and of the prov-
ince of which it was both the capital and commercial
metropolis, at an early stage of the revolutionary pro-
ceedings he became an acknowledged leader of the
rebels, and was by them rapidly advanced to the high-
est posts of danger and of honor.

Son of the Reverend James Bulloch of Wilton, Col-
leton Parish, South Carolina, clergyman and planter,
and of Jean Stobo, daughter of the Reverend Archi-
bald Stobo, of South Carolina, Archibald Bulloch was
born in Charles Town, South Carolina, in 1730. Upon
his early education every attention was bestowed. He
was destined for the legal profession, and to that end
his studies were shaped. Accompanying his father and
family upon their removal to Savannah, Georgia, in
1750, from that time forward his interests and sym-
pathies became identified with the development and
prosperity of his adopted home. Called to the Bar

ARCHIBALD BULLOCH. 15

soon after attaining his majority, he applied himself
with zeal and success to the practice of his profession.
He married Mary De Veaux, a daughter of James De
Veaux, who, in 1760, was senior judge under the admin-
istration of Governor Wright Judge De Veaux was
also a large landowner and a successful rice planter.

In 1768, Mr. Bulloch became a member of the Com-
mons House of Assembly, and was named on the com-
mittee to correspond with Dr. Benjamin Franklin, who
had been appointed an agent to " represent, solicit, and
transact the affairs of the Colony of Georgia in Great
Britain," and give him such instructions as might ap-
pear necessary.

Of the Commons House of Assembly convened in
Savannah in 1772, Mr. Bulloch was chosen Speaker,
pending a settlement of the dispute between that body
and Governor Habersham touching a recognition of
Dr. Noble Wymberley Jones. When, upon an inspec-
tion of the Journal, "his Excellency ascertained that, in
disregard of his second disapproval, the House had a
third time elected Dr. Jones as Speaker, and that it
was only in consequence of his declining to accept the
position that the members made choice of Mr. Bulloch,
on the 26th of April he sent in this message : —

"Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen op the Assembly:

a I am extremely sorry to find by your Journals that
some very exceptionable minutes are entered. I par-
ticularly mean your third choice of Noble Wymberley
Jones, Esqr., as your Speaker, upon whom I had, agree-
able to his Majesty's express instructions, twice put a
negative, and that your choice of your present Speaker
was only in consequence of his declining the chair. If

16 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

this minute is to stand upon your Journals I have no
choice left but to proceed to an immediate dissolution.
I desire, therefore, that you will come to a present and
speedy determination to recede from it If you do, I
shall, with the most unfeigned satisfaction, proceed to
business, which you cannot but be sensible will be of
the highest advantage to the Province. I shall expect
your immediate answer to this message, that my con-
duct may be regulated by it ; and shall for that pur-
pose remain in the Council Chamber."

To this plucky communication the House, through
its Speaker, promptly responded : —

"May it please your Honour:

" We, his Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects

— the Commons of Georgia in General Assembly met

— are very unhappy to find by your message to us of
this day that any Minutes entered on our Journals
should be construed by your Honour in a manner so
very different from the true intent and design of this
House. Conscious we are, Sir, that our third choice of
Noble Wymberley Jones, Esqr. as our Speaker was not
in the least meant as disrespectful to his Majesty, or to
you his representative, nor thereby did we mean to in-
fringe on the just prerogative of the Crown. We have
seriously reconsidered that particular minute which
seems to have given your Honour so much offence, and
cannot perceive wherein it is contrary to the strict
mode of Parliamentary proceeding, or repugnant to
anything communicated to us by your Honour. We
were hopeful that no further impediment would have
arisen to retard the urgent business of the public, and

ARCHIBALD BULLOCH. 17

still flatter ourselves that we may be permitted to do
that justice to our constituents which they have a
right to expect from us : and we sincerely assure your
Honour that it is our hearty wish and desire to finish
the business, by you recommended to us, with all har-
mony and dispatch. Archibald Bulloch, Speaker.

Governor Habersham, upon the receipt of this re-
sponse, summoned the House before him in the Coun-
cil Chamber, and, after a review of the whole affair,
finding that he could neither change the mind of the
members nor mould their action in conformity with
his wishes, peremptorily dissolved the assembly.

Although Governor Habersham's conduct was ap-
proved by the king, the effect produced upon the
colony was perplexing and deleterious. The treasury
was empty, and no tax-bill had been either digested or
passed. Important statutes were expiring by their
own limitations, and no new laws had been framed for
the orderly conduct and support of the province. The
inhabitants generally regarded the dissolution as an
arbitrary exercise of imperial power, as a violent sup-
pression of popular preference, as an unjustifiable
interference with legislative privilege. From across
the sea there came no redress of grievances. At home
the shadows multiplied, and the waves of unrest, dis-
quietude, and passion chafed more sullenly then ever
against the barriers which the ministry had erected.

In 1773 Mr. Bulloch was appointed a commissioner
of " Public Roads," and with all the patriotic calls,
movements, and assemblages commencing with the
20th of July, 1774, and leading up to the memorable
Provincial Congress which assembled in Savannah on

2

18 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

the 4th of July, 1775, he was personally and promi-
nently associated. On the 6th of the previous April
he had united with Noble W. Jones and John Hous-
toun in a letter to the President of the Continental
Congress explaining the reasons why they — nominated
by a convention composed of only five of the twelve
parishes constituting the Province of Georgia — could
not properly claim to represent the entire colony, or
conscientiously apply for admission as delegates from
Georgia to the General Congress.

Of the Provincial Congress of the 4th of July, 1775,
in which every parish was represented by intelligent
delegates, — fit exponents of the dominant hopes and
material interests of the communities from which they
came, — Archibald Bulloch was unanimously chosen
President. By this Congress Mr. Bulloch, John Hous-
toun, the Rev. Dr. Zubly, Noble W. Jones, and Dr.
Lyman Hall, were selected and commissioned as repre-
sentatives from Georgia to the Continental Congress.

Having memorialized the General Congress, the
governor, the citizens of Georgia, and the king, — hav-
ing framed a bill of rights and proclaimed the privi-
leges for which they were resolved to contend, — hav-
ing introduced Georgia into the fold of the confeder-
ated provinces, — having enlarged the powers of the
Council of Safety and appointed committees of corre-
spondence and of intelligence, — having provided the
ways and means for future sessions of Congress, and,
above all, having demonstrated the inability of the
king's servants to control the province in the present
crisis, this assembly — certainly one of the most im-
portant ever convened in Georgia — adjourned on the
17th of July, subject to further call up to the 20th of
August.

ARCHIBALD BULLOCH. 19

Responding to the trust reposed, Messrs. Bulloch,
Houstoun, and Zubly repaired to Philadelphia, and par-
ticipated in the deliberations of the Continental Con-
gress at an adjourned session held on the 13th of Sep-
tember.

The Provincial Congress which assembled in Savan-
nah on the 20th of January, 1776, perfected its organi-
zation two days afterwards by the election of the hon-
orable Archibald Bulloch as president. On the 2d of
February, he, John Houstoun, Lyman Hall, Button
Gwinnett, and George Walton, were appointed dele-
gates to the Continental Congress. Under the tem-
porary constitution then adopted and promulgated,
Mr. Bulloch was chosen "President and Commander-
in chief of Georgia," with John Glen as Chief Justice,
William Stephens as Attorney-General, and James
Jackson as Clerk of Court.

On the first of May, 1776, the Council of Safety
thus saluted the first Republican President of Georgia :

"May it please your Excellency:

"The long session of the late Congress, together
with the season of the year, called particularly for a
speedy recess : and the House having adjourned while
you were out of town, it becomes more particularly
necessary for us to addess your Excellency. All, there-
fore, with unfeigned confidence and regard, beg leave
to congratulate not only your Excellency on your
appointment to, but your country on your acceptance
of, the supreme command in this Province.

" It would be needless and tedious to recount the vari-
ous and yet multiplying oppressions which have driven
the people of this Province to erect that government

20 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

which they have called upon you to see executed.
Suffice it thus to declare that it was only an alterna-
tive of anarchy and misery, and, by consequence, the
effect of dire necessity. Your Excellency will know
that it was the endeavor of the Congress to stop every
avenue of vice and oppression, lest the infant virtue of
a still more infant Province might, in time, rankle into
corruption; and we doubt not that by your Excel-
lency's exertions all the resolutions made or adopted
by Congress will be enforced with firmness without
any regard to any individual or any set of men ; for
no government can be said to be established while any
part of the community refuses submission to its au-
thority. In the discharge of this arduous and impor-
tant task your Excellency may rely on our constant
and best endeavors to assist and support you."

To this address President Bulloch returned the fol-
lowing response : —

" Honorable Gentlemen :

" I am much obliged to you for your kind expres-
sions of congratulation on my appointment to the su-
preme command of this Colony. When I reflect from
whence the appointment is derived, — that of the free
and uncorrupt suffrages of my fellow-citizens, — it can-
not fail to stimulate me to the most vigorous exertions
in the discharge of the important duties to which I am
called by our Provincial Congress. While I have the
advice and assistance of gentlemen of known integrity
and abilities, I doubt not but that I shall be enabled to
enforce and carry into execution every resolve and
law of Congress. And, as far as lies with me, my

ARCHIBALD BULLOCH. 21

country may depend I will, with a becoming firmness
and the greatest impartiality, always endeavor to cause
justice in mercy to be executed."

This confidence was well bestowed. To none more
capable could this high trust have been confided.
President Bulloch was a tower of strength. His per-
sonal and official integrity, his exalted conception of
honor, his patriotism, his admirable executive abilities,
his honesty of thought and purpose, his sturdy man-
hood, his unquestioned courage, and his enlarged views
of the public good, were invaluable in shaping the con-
duct, confirming the existence, and maintaining the
dignity of the infant commonwealth.

Complying with a custom which had obtained dur-
ing the terms of service of the royal governors, Colo-
nel Mcintosh, — commanding the provincial troops in
Savannah, — upon the election of President Bulloch,
caused a sentinel to be posted at the door of his resi-
dence. To this his Excellency objected, with the re-
mark : tt I act for a free people in whom I have the
most entire confidence, and I wish to avoid on all occa-
sions the appearance of ostentation." Just prior to
entering upon his duties as President and commander-
in-chief of Georgia, and when Maitland and Grant had
retired after their unsuccessful effort to capture the
rice-laden vessels lying in the river opposite the town
of Savannah, Mr. Bulloch compassed the following
dangerous feat : Governor Wright, the officers of the
fleet lying in the mouth of the Savannah River, and
the British soldiers were in the habit of going ashore
on Tybee Island and utilizing for their comfort and
enjoyment the houses there situated. This the Coun-

22 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

cil of Safety determined to prevent in future by de-
stroying those edifices. Accordingly a boat expedition

— consisting of riflemen, light infantry, volunteers, and
a few Creek Indians, led by Mr. Bulloch — on the 25th
of March made a descent upon that island, and burned
every house except one in which a sick woman and
several children were lying. Two marines from the
fleet and a Tory were killed, and one marine and sev-
eral Tories were captured. Although the Cherokee,
man-of-war, and an armed sloop kept up an incessant
fire, the party — consisting of about one hundred men

— sustained no loss, and returned in safety to Savan-
nah, having fully accomplished the prescribed mission.

So tardy were the means of communication when
the electric telegraph and conveyance by steam were
unknown, that the Declaration of Independence —
sanctioned in Philadelphia on the 4th of July, 1776

— was not heard of in Georgia until the 10th of Au-
gust. On that day an express messenger arrived, and
delivered to President Bulloch a copy of that memo-
rable document, accompanied by a letter from John
Hancock, president of the Continental Congress. The
Provincial Council was at once assembled, and in its
hearing President Bulloch read aloud that historic ut-
terance of the delegates of the thirteen united colonies.
Profound was the impression created, and rapturously
did the assembled councilors hail the elevation of Brit-
ish colonies into the dignity of free and independent
states.

This ceremony concluded, the President and Mem-
bers of Council repaired to the public square, where,
in front of the building set apart for the deliberations
of the Provincial Assembly, the Declaration of Inde-

ARCHIBALD BULLOCH. 23

pendence was again read, and this time amid the ac-
clamations of the congregated citizens of Savannah.
The grenadier and light infantry companies then fired
a general salute, and the following procession was
formed : —

" The Grenadiers in front ;

The Provost Marshal on horseback, with his sword drawn ;

The Secretary, bearing the Declaration ;

His Excellency the President ;

The honorable the Council, and gentlemen attending ;

The Light Infantry;

The Militia of the Town and District of Savannah ;

And lastly, the Citizens."

In this order all marched to the Liberty Pole, where
they were met by the Georgia Battalion. Here the
Declaration was read for the third time. At the com-
mand of Colonel Lachlan Mcintosh, thirteen volleys
were fired from the field-pieces, and also from the
small arms. Thence the entire concourse proceeded
to the battery at the Trustees Garden, where the De-
claration was publicly read for the fourth and last
time, and a salute was fired from the siege guns posted
at that point.

His Excellency, the Members of Council, Colonel
Mcintosh, many gentlemen, and the militia dined un-
der the cedar trees, and cordially drank to the " pros-
perity and perpetuity of the United, Free, and Inde-
pendent States of America."

In the evening the town was illuminated. A funeral
procession, — embracing a number of citizens larger
than had ever been congregated in the history of Sa-
vannah, attended by the grenadier and light infantry
companies, the Georgia battalion, and the militia, —

24 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

with muffled drums, marched to the front of the court
house, where his Majesty George the Third was in-
terred in effigy, and the following burial service, pre-
pared for the occasion, was read with all solemnity : —

u For as much as George the Third, of Great Britain,
hath most flagrantly violated his Coronation Oath, and
trampled upon the Constitution of our country and
the sacred rights of mankind : we, therefore, commit
his political existence to the ground — corruption to
corruption — tyranny to the grave — and oppression
to eternal infamy ; in sure and certain hope that he
will never obtain a resurrection to rule again over
these United States of America. But, my friends and
fellow-citizens, let us not be sorry, as men without
hope, for tyrants that thus depart — rather let us re-
member America is free and independent ; that she is
and will be, with the blessing of the Almighty, great
among the nations of the earth. Let this encourage
us in well doing, to fight for our rights and privileges,
for our wives and children, and for all that is near and
dear unto us. May God give us his blessing, and let
all the people say, Amen."

With similar joy was the publication of the Declara-
tion welcomed in other parishes.

Now that Georgia had been formally recognized as
a State, and as it had been recommended by the Colo-
nial Congress that governments should be provided in
the several commonwealths adapted to the exigencies
of the new order of affairs, and conducive to the hap-
piness and safety alike of the respective States and of
the Confederated Union, President Bulloch issued his
proclamation ordering a general election to be held
between the 1st and the 10th of September, for the

ARCHIBALD BULLOCH. 25

purpose of selecting representatives to meet in con-
vention in Savannah on the first Tuesday in October.
He also directed that a circular letter should be ad-
dressed to the inhabitants of the parishes and districts
of Georgia, congratulating them upon the happy po-
litical outlook, reminding them of the important busi-
ness to be transacted by the convention, and impress-
ing upon them the necessity for selecting delegates of
approved patriotism and of the highest character, —
men whose friendship to the cause of freedom had
been thoroughly proven, and whose political wisdom
qualified them to frame the best constitution for the
future guidance of the commonwealth.

Another proclamation was issued for the encourage-
ment of the recruiting service within the limits of
Georgia, It was based upon a resolution of the Pro-
vincial Congress which provided that every one enter-
ing the army, who should serve faithfully for a period
of three years or until peace was concluded with Great
Britain, should be entitled to a bounty of one hundred
acres of land. It was further stipulated that if he
should perish in defense of his State, his widow or
family would be complimented with the land.

President Bulloch was careful in explaining to the
Indian nations dwelling upon the borders of Georgia
the nature of the dispute between the united colonies
and England, and in exhorting them to maintain a
friendly correspondence.

It was during his administration that General Charles
Lee launched his futile expedition against East Florida.

Responding to the proclamation and the circular let-
ter of President Bulloch, the delegates selected by the
various parishes assembled in Savannah on the first

26 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

Tuesday in October, 1776. They were men of repute
at home. They had been carefully chosen and were
not insensible to the weighty obligations resting upon
them. So numerous were the subjects claiming the
attention of this convention, and so exhaustive were
its deliberations, that it was not until the 5th of the
following February that satisfactory conclusions were
reached, and that the Constitution was promulgated
which for twelve years defined and supported the
rights of Georgia as an independent State. In shap-
ing its provisions, the wisdom and patriotism, the aid
and counsel of the Executive were frequently invoked.

Scarcely had this instrument been published when
an alarm was again sounded along the southern fron-
tier of Georgia, and the arms-bearing population was
summoned to the field. It being found impossible at
all times to convene the Council of Safety with a
promptitude requisite for the dispatch of urgent busi-
ness, President Bulloch was, by resolution of that body
adopted on the 22d of February, requested " to take
upon himself the whole executive powers of govern-
ment, calling to his assistance not less than five per-
sons of his own choosing to consult and advise with
him on every occasion when a sufficient number of
councillors could not be convened to make a board."

Unusual as was this delegation of power, it excited
neither jealousy nor unfavorable comment. The times
were hazardous, delays dangerous, and decision and
quick action were imperatively demanded. The pru-
dence, wisdom, courage, and patriotism of Mr. Bulloch
were conspicuous. In him did the people trust with a
confidence and a devotion rarely exhibited.

But a little while, however, did he survive to exer-

ARCHIBALD BULLOCH. 27

cise these extensive powers. Before the month of Feb-
ruary was ended he died 1 suddenly at his home in
Savannah, and the State was filled with mourning.
He fell in full armor, his thoughts intent upon duty,
his arm nerved for the loftiest endeavor. No one of
his generation was more influential in shaping the po-
litical destinies of Georgia, or more potent in compass-
ing the liberation of that colony from the dominion
of the Crown. His good name and patriotic efforts
are indissolubly associated with the proudest triumphs
of the period. In slight acknowledgment of his ser-
vices in the cause of freedom and in maintenance of
the rights of man, a county has been named in his
honor, and he is gratefully remembered as the first
Kepublican President of the commonwealth.

1 His will was executed on the 11th of February, 1775, and was pro-
bated on the 1st of March, 1786. It remains of record in the office of the
Ordinary of Chatham County.

JOSEPH CLAY.

Ralph Clay — the father of the subject of this sketch
— married Elizabeth, a sister of the honorable James
Habersham, intimate friend of the reverend George
Whitefield, and, during the absence of Sir James Wright
in 1771-72, the royal governor of Georgia. Joseph
Clay, the only son of this marriage, was born at Bever-
ley, Yorkshire, England, on the 16th of October, 1741.
At the suggestion of his distinguished uncle, supple-
mented by the persuasions of the Reverend Mr. White-
field, young Clay came to Georgia in 1760. A few years
afterwards, responding to the wish of Governor Haber-
sham, who furnished the means requisite for the adven-
ture, his son James Habersham junior and his nephew
Joseph Clay associated themselves in a general com-
mission business in Savannah. The partnership thus
formed lasted about five years. With the exception
of the period covered by the war of the Revolution
Mr. Clay remained actively engaged in commercial
pursuits. He and Colonel Joseph Habersham were at
one time associated under the firm name of Joseph
Clay & Company. He was also a partner in the house
of Seth John Cuthbert & Company ; at another time
he was the senior member of the firm of Clay, Telfair
& Company, and again was interested as a copartner
in the house of William Fox & Company of Newport,
Rhode Island. His home was always in Savannah,
where, on the 2d of January, 1763, he married Ann

JOSEPH CLAY. 29

Legardere. Soon after establishing himself in busi-
ness in Savannah, Mr. Clay became interested, in con-
nection with his relatives, the Habershams, in the
cultivation of rice, which was then the principal mar-
ket crop produced upon the marish lands of Southern
Georgia. Both as a merchant and as a planter he
prospered. In conducting his business affairs he was
prompt, energetic, and competent.

By the meeting of patriotic citizens assembled at
the Liberty Pole at Tondee's Tavern in Savannah on
the 27th of July, 1774, he was chosen a member of the
committee then raised and charged with the prepara-
tion of resolutions expressive of the rebel sentiments
of the community, and of the determination of
Georgia, at an early day, to associate herself with her
sister American colonies in opposition to the enforce-
ment of the unjustifiable and arbitrary acts of the
British Parliament.

On the 10th of the following August he appeared
with this committee and united in submitting a report
which, unanimously adopted, proclaimed in brave lan-
guage the rights claimed by the protesting provinces,
condemned in emphatic terms the policy inaugurated
by England, and promised cooperation on the part of
Georgia in all constitutional measures devised to ob-
tain a redress of existing grievances and to maintain
the inestimable blessings granted by God and guaran-
teed by a constitution founded upon reason and justice.
He was also of the committee then appointed to solicit
and forward supplies for the relief of the suffering poor
of Boston. In the rape of six hundred pounds of
powder from the king's magazine in Savannah during
the night of the 11th of May, 1775, and in its subse-

30 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

quent distribution among parties intent upon rebellion,
Mr. Clay personally participated. By the assembly
convened on the 22d of June in the same year he
was complimented with a place in the Council of
Safety. To the famous Provincial Congress which met
in Savannah twelve days afterwards, he was a delegate
accredited from the town and district of Savannah.
By that Congress he was placed upon a committee to
frame an address to his Excellency Governor Wright.
He was also designated as a member of the important
"Committee of Intelligence, ,, and commissioned as
one of another committee to present the " Article of
Association," then adopted, to the inhabitants of the
town and district of Savannah for signature.

Deeming it essential to the success of the liberty
cause that no officer of the militia should be retained
in commission who refused or neglected to sign this
" Article of Association," and yet exhibiting a show of
respect for Sir James Wright, the royal governor,
George Walton, William Le Conte, Francis Harris,
William Young, George Houstoun, William Ewen,
John Glen, Samuel Elbert, Basil Cowper, and Joseph
Clay, acting in behalf of the Council of Safety, on the
8th of August, 1775, addressed a communication to his
Excellency the governor, asking permission that the
several militia companies of the province should be
permitted to elect their own officers. It was sug-
gested that some of them were distasteful to those
whom they were appointed to command. Deeming it
an extraordinary application, dangerous in its ten-
dency and calculated to wrest the control of the mili-
tary from the crown officers, Sir James sought the
advice of his Council. An answer was returned : " that

JOSEPH CLAY. 31

for many very substantial reasons the governor would
not comply with the request" Nothing daunted, the
members of the Council of Safety, who really cared
but little for the mind of the governor on the subject,
took the matter in their own hands, and proceeded to
purge the militia of any loyal element which lurked
in the ranks of its commissioned officers. The revo-
lutionists were in earnest. With rapid strides they
marched forward, overcoming in succession every ob-
stacle which retarded their progress towards the con-
summation of the complete overthrow of kingly
dominion in Georgia. In this rebel procession Joseph
Clay was an active and efficient lieutenant.

When, early in March, 1776, Barclay and Grant
threatened Savannah, the Council of Safety resolved
to defend that town and the rice-laden vessels lying at
its wharves, to the last extremity. Mr. Clay was then
named as chairman of a committee to inventory and
value the shipping in port, and all houses in Savannah
and its hamlets belonging to the friends of America
who were prepared to participate in the common de-
fense. In that inventory and appraisement were to
be included the homes and property of widows and
orphans. So firm was the resolution of the patriots,
that they were determined to commit everything to
the flames rather than have their town and shipping
pass into the hands of British soldiers.

The inventory and appraisement were made with a
view to future indemnification at the hands of the gen-
eral government Fortunately the contemplated sacri-
fice was not demanded at the hands of these gallant
defenders.

On the 6th of August, 1777, Mr. Clay was recog-

32 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

nized by the Continental Congress as Deputy Pay-
master-General in Georgia, with the rank of colonel.
This position was subsequently enlarged so as to em-
brace the Southern Department When General
Greene assumed command of this department, Colonel
Clay was brought into personal association with him,
and secured his confidence and esteem. Large sums
of money were disbursed by him in the execution of
his office, and there remains no suggestion of default
or misappropriation. During the years 1778, 1779,
and 1780 Georgia named him as one of her delegates
to the Continental Congress.

By the first general assembly which convened in
Savannah after its evacuation by General Alured
Clarke and the king's forces in July, 1782, Colonel
Clay was elected Treasurer of the State of Georgia,
and his salary was fixed at £300 per annum.

In 1785 he was named as one of the trustees for
establishing the college or seminary of learning which
subsequently developed into the present University of
Georgia; and during the following year he became
one of the justices of Chatham County. In May, 1791,
he was a member of the committee which welcomed
President Washington on the occasion of his visit to
Savannah. He died in that city on the 15th of No-
vember, 1804. 1

His son Joseph was a prominent lawyer, and for
several years occupied the bench as United States
Judge for the District of Georgia. Resigning this

1 Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography fixes the date of
Colonel Clay's death as the 16th of January, 1805. The true date, as
taken from the family records, is that which we have given above.

JOSEPH CLAY. 33

position he entered the sacred ministry, and was re-
garded as one of the most eloquent pulpit orators of
his day. In later generations the descendants of
Colonel Clay have been noted in the church, at the
Bar, in the domain of politics, and in social life.

WILLIAM FEW.

Unassisted by family or fortune, yet sustained by
natural capabilities, a strong character, a determined
will, and a laudable ambition, the subject of this sketch,
triumphing over the lack of early education and the
retarding influences of the res angusta donri, bore a
prominent part alike in the Revolutionary annals of
Georgia, and in those acts and deliberations which cul-
minated in the establishment of this general govern-
ment Brave of heart, firm in purpose, full of patri-
otic impulse, bred in the school of the self-reliant
pioneer, possessing an admirable knowledge of men
and events, and exhibiting on all occasions a sound
and comprehensive judgment, his counsel and aid were
invaluable during the trying epoch when the govern-
ment of an infant State, changing its seat as the tide
of revolution ebbed and flowed in the presence or ab-
sence of the king's soldiers, stood in sore need of the
substantial encouragement of those accustomed to deal
with emergencies and difficulties, and who were loyal
to the cause of independence. Material was the assist-
ance rendered by Colonel Few, not only in the shock
of arms wherein he took rank with Twiggs, Clarke,
Dooly, Elbert, Walton, and Baker, keeping the flame
of resistance alive when the territory of Georgia was
well-nigh overrun by British regulars, Tories, and sub-
sidized Indians, but also in devising means for sustain-
ing the Revolutionists when they sadly needed arms,

WILLIAM FEW. 35

clothing, food, organization, munitions, and all sorts of
equipments. Potent was his voice in the discussions
which eventuated in framing a constitution and in the
enactment of laws suitable for th«. governance of a
new State just emerged from kingly rule.

As a Representative from Georgia in the Conti-
nental Congress, his course in the national councils
was marked by integrity, fidelity, and ability. The
reputation acquired at home was here broadened and
heightened until it became national in its scope. As a
Judge, his conduct was at all times impartial and dig-
nified, and his administration of the law, just, capable,
and inflexible. More than once was he called upon to
aid in settling the boundary lines of Georgia, and in
the pacification of the Indian tribes cormorant near
her borders. As one of the original trustees of the
state university, his services in devising a scheme for
the liberal education of the youths of the land are
well remembered. His labors in the convention for
revising the Articles of Confederation, and his exer-
tions in behalf of Georgia and her sister colonies in
their contest for an independent national existence,
were rewarded by a seat in the Senate of the United
States. Thus, as a partisan officer, as a member of the
Executive Council of Georgia, as a State Legislator, as
a Judge, a Trustee, a Commissioner, a Member of Con-
gress, and as a United States Senator, he was compli-
mented with nearly every prominent office within the
gift of his adopted State. At all times and in every
place did he endear himself to his people ; and the
value of his patriotic and public services was thor-
oughly recognized. Faithful and energetic in the hour
of doubt and peril, he lived to behold the full triumph

36 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

of the republic, and to share liberally in the general
honors.

Upon his removal to New York in 1799, his services
were speedily invoked in the interest of the good order
of the community, and the remainder of his life was
there spent in usefulness, in the efficient administra-
tion of various noted charities, in the discharge of
duties appertaining to offices of trust and honor within
the gift of the city, and in the proper guidance of the
affairs of one of its most respectable financial institu-
tions.

A descendant of one of the early settlers of Penn-
sylvania, Colonel William Few was born in Baltimore
County, Maryland, on the 8th of June, 1748. Remov-
ing with his parents to North Carolina when just ten
years of age, his boyhood and early manhood were
spent in a region where privation and severe labor
were the heritage of the many, where opportunities
for acquiring even the rudiments of an education were
very limited, and where the battle with nature for sub-
sistence and reasonable comfort was incessant and all-
absorbing. Even under such disadvantageous circum-
stances, the longings of his active mind for culture and
knowledge were extraordinary, and the progress made
in intellectual improvement was quite astonishing.
The narrative which he has left of his early struggles
unfolds a bright example worthy the emulation of in-
genuous youth of the succeeding generations whose
lots may be cast in rough places. He came to reside
in Georgia in the autumn of 1776. Just twenty-eight
years of age, full of vigor and enthusiasm, and ac-
customed to deal with men, he was there accorded
a hearty welcome. Those were stirring times, and

WILLIAM FEW. 37

almost immediately upon his arrival he threw himself
with patriotic ardor into the midst of them, taking an
active interest in public affairs, which he maintained
during his residence of nearly a quarter of a century
in that State.

His life was characterized by probity, decision, inde-
pendence, strength, courage, and devotion to country
and duty. Ardent in temperament, yet deliberate in
forming his opinions, he adhered with a tenacity
worthy of admiration to all projects promotive of good
morals and the general welfare. Toward those enter-
taining opposite political views he was tolerant and
courteous. Candor in thought, word, and act was one
of his distinguishing traits. As a partisan officer he
was enterprising, intrepid, and patient of every fatigue
and privation. The success of the Republic he held
superior to every other consideration, and to the cause
of the Revolutionists he gave, on every occasion, his
unswerving allegiance. In the domestic circle he was
affectionate, true, and confiding. A staunch believer
in the truths of revealed religion, he governed his life
in obedience to the established tenets of the Church
of Christ. During his declining years he was much
given to meditation and repose. Having acquired an
ample fortune, it was his pleasure to disburse all sur-
plus income in support of such charities as com-
mended themselves to his philanthropic heart. In
person, Colonel Few was tall, erect, slender, and well-
proportioned. His regular and finely poised head was
indicative of resolution, intellect, and character. His
countenance was agreeable, and his eyes were full of
expression. In his manners he was grave and digni-
fied, and his deportment was such as to inspire confi-

38 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

dence and respect He died at the residence of Mr.
Albert Chrystie, his son-in-law, at Fishkill-on-Hudson,
on the 16th of July, 1828, full of years and of honora 1

1 The following is a summary of the more prominent positions filled by
Mr. Few during his long, busy, and useful life : —

1777. Member from Richmond County of the Georgia Legislature.

1777. Member of the Executive Council.

1778. Engaged in the Expedition conducted by General Robert Howe
and Governor John Houstoun for the subjugation of East Florida.

1778. Elected Surveyor-General of Georgia.

1778. Appointed Commissioner of Confiscated Estates, and Senior Jus-
tice* for the County of Richmond.

1779. Appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the Richmond County Militia,
and actively employed in the field in resisting the advance of Colonel
Campbell upon Augusta, in guarding the frontiers of Georgia, and in re-
sisting the predatory attacks of British, Tories, and Indians.

1779. A Commissioner on the part of Georgia to bring about a pacifi-
cation of the Creek and Cherokee nations.

1779. Again a member of the General Assembly of Georgia.

1 780. A delegate from Georgia to the Continental Congress.

1781. In obedience to the expressed will of the Continental Congress,
present in Georgia to assist in the reconstruction of the State govern-
ment.

1 782. A second time a delegate to the Continental Congress.

1783. Again a member of the Georgia Legislature.

1784. Admitted to the Bar in Savannah.

1 786. Reelected to the Continental Congress.

1787. Delegate from Georgia to the Philadelphia Convention for re-
vising the Constitution of the United States.

1 788. Member of the Georgia Convention which ratified the Constitu-
tion of the United States.

1 789. United States Senator from Georgia.

1793. Again a member of the Georgia Legislature.

1796. Appointed Judge of the Second Judicial Circuit of Georgia.

1799. Removed to New York city.

1801-1804. A member of the General Assembly of New York.

1804. Appointed Commissioner of Loans.

1802. Inspector of the New York State Prison.

1813-1814. Alderman of the 8th Ward of the city of New York.

1804-1814. Director of the Manhattan Bank.

1814. President of the City Bank.

WILLIAM FEW. 39

He was also, in 1785, one of the original trustees for establishing the
University of Georgia ; and was named as a grantee in the cession from
the State of forty thousand acres of land as a foundation for that semi-
nary of learning.

Mr. Few united with George Walton and Richard Howley in preparing
and signing, in Philadelphia, in January, 1781, the tract entitled " Ob-
servations upon the Effects of certain late Political Suggestions," in which
they — then representing Georgia in the Continental Congress — protest
manfully against the adoption of the uti possidetis as a probable basis for
peace between England and her American Colonies.

WILLIAM GIBBONS.

The honorable Thomas Spalding, then far advanced
in years, in 1850 thus narrates his recollections of the
subject of this sketch. 1 " Mr. Gibbons was my law
instructor. After my own father he was the best
friend I ever knew. He was a great lawyer, well read
in his profession, which he acquired in Charleston un-
der the direction of a Mr. Parsons, — an Irish gentle-
man of high grade in the law. The result from his
professional labors while I lived with him was three
thousand pounds sterling a year. This I knew, as I
was his collector and Mrs. Gibbons his treasurer.
There was then no bank paper. His note-book was to
him of great value, for he had distinctly noted every
important case that had occurred during his whole
practice, giving the points on which it turned and the
opinion of the judge ; and as these judges in those
times were Judge Walton of Augusta and Judge
Houstoun of Savannah, these decisions carried more
weight with the jury than the decisions of the King's
Bench.

" Mr. Gibbons was not a very fluent speaker. He
was very quick in discovering the weak point of his
opponent, and his memory was always ready to give
the law that bore upon it. His commentary upon the
law was in short, in clear, distinct terms, very pointed ;
and sometimes he indulged in witticisms, which in-

1 The Bench and Bar of Georgia, vol. ii. p. 102. Philadelphia, 1858.

WILLIAM GIBBONS. 41

creased as he grew older from his intimate association
with Peter Carries the elder, — the wittiest lawyer I
ever have known, and whose wit obscured his profound
law knowledge in the eyes of the many. Mr. Gib-
bons in his nature was very open, frank, and manly,
and very determined. This gave him a few warm
friends and many bitter enemies.

" It gives me pleasure to state that General James
Jackson, — the noblest man with whom it has been my
lot to be acquainted, — when I called upon him as gov-
ernor 1 to give me a letter to Mr. King, our then
Minister in London, kept me to dine with him ; and he
asked me what were Mr. Gibbons's receipts from his
profession ? I replied : * Three thousand pounds per
annum.' His response was : ' My own were about that
amount when I unwisely left my profession for poli-
tics. Mr. Gibbons, as a whole, was the greatest lawyer
in Georgia/ Let me say to you that General Jack-
son and Mr. Gibbons had exchanged three shots at
each other ; they were considered the bitterest enemies
by the public. A high-minded man feels no enmity ."

Mr. Gibbons was a gentleman of large wealth, accu-
mulated, it is believed, by judicious investment of his
professional income. It was upon one of his rice plan-
tations, situated not far from " Mulberry Grove " on
the Savannah River, and while as the guest of Mr.
Gibbons inspecting his growing crop, that General
Nathanael Greene, on the 13th of June, 1786, con-
tracted the illness which so speedily terminated bis
valuable life. His residence in Savannah was noted
for its comfort and bountiful hospitality. It was the

1 This was in 1798.

42 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

day of rich brown sherry, Madeira wine, and good
brandy.

Upon another of Mr. Gibbons's plantations General
Wayne, in June, 1782, met and overcame the famous
Indian Chief Guristersigo.

While intent upon the practice of his profession and
busied with his private affairs, he was not indifferent to
the claims of country or an idle spectator of passing
events. His sympathies at the outset were cordially
enlisted on the side of the " Sons of Liberty/' and his
time and services were cheerfully given to furthering
the aims of the rebels.

He was one of the party which, during the night of
the 11th of May, 1775, broke open the magazine in
Savannah and removed therefrom some six hundred
pounds of the king's powder, to be exploded not in the
honor, but in defiance of his Majesty.

In the Provincial Congress of July, 1775, he appeared
as a delegate from the District of Acton, and was a
member of the committee raised to acquaint the presi-
dent of the Continental Congress with the proceedings
of the Georgia Congress.

Of the Council of Safety selected on the 11th of the
following December he was chosen a member. It was
by direction of this council that Governor Wright was
arrested and confined. So far as we can learn, Mr.
Gibbons never bore arms during the struggle, but he
was almost continuously in the civil service of the com-
monwealth. Of that Executive or Supreme Council
which, in July, 1779, was invested with extraordinary
powers, he was an active member.

Aside from the distinction of representing Georgia
in the Continental Congress, 1 he was complimented in

1 In 1784-86.

WILLIAM GIBBONS. 43

1786 with the position of Associate Justice of the
County of Chatham ; in the following year with the
speakership of the House of Representatives ; and in
1789 with the presidency of the constitutional con-
vention. The act of a formal acceptance, by Governor
Walton, from Mr. Gibbons of the new Constitution
concluded upon by that convention in Augusta on the
6th of May, was announced to the town by a salute of
eleven guns.

, Mr. Gibbons died in Savannah in 1800. His will
bears date the 14th of June, 1799, and was admitted
to probate on the 26th of November in the following
year. It is now of record in the office of the Ordinary
of Chatham County, Georgia.

JAMES GUNN.

Born of humble parentage and in straitened circum-
stances in Virginia, in 1739, and having acquired such
education as was afforded by the common schools in
the neighborhood, Mr. Gunn applied himself to the
study of the law, and was in due course called to the
Bar.

When the united colonies took up arms against the
mother country, he espoused the cause of the Revolu-
tionists, and, in his native State, joined the rebel army.

As a captain of dragoons he participated, under
General Wayne, in the movement for the relief of
Savannah, Georgia, in 1782 ; and upon the termination
of the war selected that town as his home, and there
resumed the practice of his profession.

He was fond of military affairs, and, as Colonel of
the First Regiment of Chatham County Militia, led a
detachment of state troops which succeeded in dis-
persing a formidable body of runaway slaves, who,
having been trained to arms by the British during their
occupation of Savannah, upon the cessation of hostili-
ties styling themselves the "King of England's sol-
diers," and refusing to return to the abodes of their
respective owners, formed a fortified encampment on
Bear Creek, and from this place of conjectured secu-
rity sallied forth by night, plundering and burning
adjacent plantations on both sides of the Savannah
River.

JAMES GUNN. 45

Subsequently he rose to the grade of Brigadier-
General of Georgia Militia, and was, by Governor Tel-
fair, summoned to a council of war to devise measures
for the protection of the State against the incursions
of the Creek Indians.

Of violent temper and inclined to quarrel, shortly
after General Greene became a resident of Georgia,
General Gunn challenged him for an alleged wrong
which he conceived the general had inflicted upon him
during the war of the Revolution. At the time of the
conjectured injury, General Greene had been Gunn's
commanding officer. Declining the meeting, and dis-
avowing all responsibility in the premises, General
Greene planted his refusal upon the broad ground that
any admission of accountability under the circum-
stances would prove totally subversive of all military
discipline. The whole matter was referred to General
Washington, who unhesitatingly justified the course
pursued by his favorite lieutenant.

The Georgia Legislature, then in session at Augusta,
on the 10th of February, 1787, elected General Gunn
as a delegate to the Continental Congress ; but it is
believed he never took his seat as a member of that
body.

Of the first Congress which convened under the
Constitution framed by the Convention of 1787, Gen-
eral Gunn was a member. He was also a United
States Senator from Georgia, in 1795 and 1796. While
holding this high office he became implicated in the
Yazoo speculations, involving personal disgrace and im-
pairing the fair fame of the commonwealth which he
represented in the Upper House of the National Con-
gress. He was one of the three grantees of The

46 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

Georgia Company, and exerted his influence to com-
pass a cession of public lands in direct violation of
established principles of justice and equity.

Alluding to this scheme to rob the State of Georgia
of its western territory, Doctor Stevens observes : * —

"The whole State was heaving with excitement.
The bribery which had been so openly used by men
high in office on the Bench, at the Bar, and in the
Senate, and the corruption, intrigue, intimidation, and
violence which had been employed to gain over the
Legislature to the plans of the speculators constitute a
dark page in the political history of Georgia. One of
the most zealous advocates of this scheme was James
Gunn. This man, who had risen from almost obscu-
rity to power by truckling to the vulgar tastes of the
populace, and by some show of military genius, was,
at the period of which we write, a Senator of Georgia
in Congress, and his presence there was needed to
guard the interests of the State. Yet, sacrificing all
public considerations to private advantage, he remained
in Georgia, repaired to Augusta, and by his influence
and efforts, at once overbearing and unscrupulous, be-
came the main manager of this nefarious business.
Having secured the passage of the bill, he then repaired
to Congress, which he reached only the last day of
February, — four days before the constitutional close
of the session, — and there sought to carry out his
Georgia schemes by involving the general government
also in these questionable transactions."

In these efforts he was thwarted by his co-Senator
from Georgia, — a gentleman of the sternest probity,
jealous of personal and national honor, and of conspic-

1 History of Georgia, vol. ii. p. 478. Philadelphia, 1859.

JAMES GUNN. 47

uous courage, — the honorable James Jackson. It was
chiefly through his potent intervention that the re-
scinding act was passed, that the scheme to rob the
commonwealth of its valuable western territory was
exposed to public apprehension and reprobation, and
that the legislative proceedings of Georgia were
purged of this flagrant iniquity. Disgrace and disap-
pointment followed hard upon exposure. Senator
Gunn died suddenly at Louisville, Jefferson County,
Georgia (then the capital of the State), on the 30th
of July, 1801. 1 He was one of those who voted for
locating the seat of government on the Potomac.

While an active and brave subaltern in the Conti-
nental Army, and a man of determination and of con-
siderable force of character, General Gunn was violent,
aggressive, addicted to extravagant statement and pro-
fane swearing, overbearing, disposed to pander to the
lowest prejudices of the populace, unscrupulous in the
means employed for the accomplishment of his ambi-
tion, vain, boastful, negligent of public duty when in-
tent upon schemes of personal advantage, and intoler-
ant of opposition. The architect of his own fortunes,
he builded a reputation quite marked, but in some
respects unenviable.

1 In the Georgia Gazette of August 6th, 1801, appears the following
notice of his death : " Extract of a Letter from Louisville, dated July
31. General Gunn arrived here last Sunday, and died last night at
eleven or twelve o'clock, a very short illness indeed. It is said that his
death was greatly owing to a draught of cold water after the taking of
medicine ; and, what is strange, the doctor and several gentlemen were in
the room, and not one observed his death till some time after he expired.
He is to be buried this afternoon with the honors of war."

His will was probated in Chatham County, Georgia, on the 10th of
May, 1808, and letters testamentary were granted to Sarah Gunn, execu-
trix.

BUTTON GWINNETT.

With the exception of the last five or six years,
which were rendered somewhat memorable by an ac-
tive participation in the events connected with the in-
ception and progress of the Revolution in Georgia, and
by his tragic death, Button Gwinnett appears to have
spent his life in tranquillity and without special mark.
Aside from the Constitution adopted by the Georgia
Convention in 1777, which is generally supposed to
have been, in large measure, the offspring of his
thought and political sagacity, we have no monument
either of his literary or public effort. He wrote and
spoke but seldom, and his signatures are esteemed
among the rarest of the Signers of the Declaration of
Independence.

His birth in England occurred almost contempo-
raneously with the planting of the colony of Georgia,
at Savannah, by the illustrious Oglethorpe. That his
education was not neglected may be accepted as a
fact, although it was perhaps not so liberal as to have
inclined him to the adoption of one of the learned pro-
fessions. In early manhood he engaged in mercantile
pursuits in Bristol, England. This city, however, in a
spirit of adventure, he soon abandoned, and became a
resident of Charles-Town, South Carolina. Here, for a
season, he resumed his avocation as a merchant ; but,
erelong, attracted by the growing importance of the
younger Province of Georgia, he transferred his hopes

BUTTON GWINNETT. 49

and his property to Savannah, its commercial metro-
polis. There, as early as 1765, we find him established
in the business of a general trader. It was a place of
limited means, and trifling were the ventures of its
most prosperous merchants.

The establishment of a convenient highway connect-
ing the town of Savannah with the Scotch settlement
at Darien, on the Alatamaha River, tended largely to
the development and the population of the interme-
diate swamp region, which was very fertile, and well
adapted to the cultivation of rice, cotton, corn, indigo,
and vegetables and fruits of various sorts. The regula-
tion prohibiting the introduction of negro slaves into
the Province of Georgia had been abrogated, and for-
mer restrictions upon the alienation of lands had been
removed. Thus encouraged, and allured by the agri-
cultural advantages of this portion of the Province,
colonists from other plantations flocked in and pos-
sessed themselves of the rich deltas of the Great Ogee-
chee, the Midway, and the North Newport rivers. The
accession of the Dorchester congregation — consisting
of some three hundred and fifty whites and fifteen
hundred negroes — materially enhanced the wealth
and increased the population of this Midway District.
It contributed to the rising importance of the village
of Sunbury, situated upon a bold and beautiful bluff
on Midway River, which, overlooking the placid waters
of that stream and the intervening low-lying marshes,
descries in the distance the green woods of Bermuda
Island, the dim outline of the southern point of Ossa-
baw, and, across the Sound, the white shores of St.
Catharine.

50 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

When the claim of Mary Bosomworth * was finally
adjusted, this island of St. Catharine, upon which she
had fixed her home, was acknowledged to be her in-
dividual property. Apparently dissatisfied with his
mercantile pursuits, and anxious to avail himself of the
attractions offered by the Midway District, fast becom-
ing the most influential parish in the Province, Gwin-
nett, about 1768, converted his property into money
and purchased a portion of this island from Thomas
and Mary Bosomworth. Including some cattle, horses,
hogs, lumber, and a plantation-boat, the cost of these
premises amounted to £5,250. With some negro
slaves he there established a plantation and turned his
attention to agriculture. Indigo, rice, corn, and lum-
ber were the staple commodities of the region. His
residence was in easy access to Sunbury, then the rival
of Savannah in population and commercial impor-
tance. 2 With Dr. Lyman Hall — the leading physi-
cian in the community, and one of the earliest and
most influential " Sons of Liberty" in the Province —
he contracted a strong personal and political friend-
ship. To this association may probably be referred
the active interest which Gwinnett soon manifested in
the political fortunes of the Province, then on the eve
of a mighty revolution.

His first public service of which we find any mention

1 Her Indian name was Cowsaponcke sa. Claiming to be of royal blood,
she was in turn the wife of John Musgrove, Jacob Matthews, and of the
Rev. Thomas Bosomworth, at one time chaplain to Oglethorpe's regi-
ment. She had rendered various and valuable services to the colonists.

8 On the 16th of September, 1768, Mr. Gwinnett was, by Governor
James Wright, appointed a commissioner " for regulating the pilotage for
the Bar of Saint Catharine and the river Midway in the Parish of Saint
John and Province of Georgia." He also held a commission from the
crown as a Justice of the Peace for St. John's Parish.

BUTTON GWINNETT. 51

was rendered as a delegate from the Parish of St. John
to the Provincial Congress which convened in Savan-
nah on the 20th of January, 1776. By that Congress
he was selected, in association with Archibald Bulloch,
John Houstoun, Lyman Hall, and George Walton, as a
delegate to the Continental Congress. In that national
assembly he appeared on the 20th of the following
May, and, as one of the members from Georgia, affixed
his signature to the Declaration proclaiming the inde-
pendence of the United Colonies.

On the 30th of August, 1776, Mr. Gwinnett pre-
sented to the Council of Safety certified resolutions of
the Continental Congress authorizing the enlistment of
a regiment of Rangers, horse and foot, — two bat-
talions, two companies of Artillery to garrison the forts
at Savannah and Sunbury to be erected at the expense
of Georgia, and the construction of four galleys, to be
built at the charge of the general government and un-
der the supervision of the Governor of Georgia, — all
intended for the defense of that State, and to be placed
upon the Continental establishment In compassing
the passage of these resolutions and in carrying them
into practical effect he was largely instrumental.

On the 7th of October in the same year he became
a member of the Council of Safety, still retaining his
position as a delegate to the Continental Congress.

With the framing and passage of the Constitution of
1777, which for twelve years defined and supported
the rights of Georgia as an independent State, Button
Gwinnett had much to do. In truth, he was regarded
as the parent of that instrument; the provisions of
which were, in the main, well considered, wise, and
adapted to the emergency. Not a few of them have

52 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

withstood the changes of more than a century. To
the present day are their beneficial influences recog-
nized and approved.

Such was the alarming condition of public affairs,
and so menacing the attitude assumed by Florida, that
a short time before his death Button Gwinnett, Jona-
than Bryan, William Bryan, Adam F. Brisbane, and
John Bohun Girardeau — members of the Council of
Safety — addressed a communication to President
Archibald Bulloch, requesting him " to take upon him-
self the whole executive powers of government, and
to call in to his assistance not less than five persons of
his own choosing, with whom he might consult and ad-
vise on every urgent occasion when a sufficient num-
ber of Councillors could not be convened to make a
board."

In February, 1777, Archibald Bulloch — the first
Republican President and Commander-in-Chief of
Georgia; who was a tower of strength to the Re-
volutionists ; whose personal integrity, high sense of
honor, patriotism, admirable executive abilities, hon-
esty of thought and purpose, sturdy manhood, un-
questioned courage, and comprehensive views of the
public good were invaluable in shaping the conduct
and maintaining the dignity of the infant common-
wealth; who, with ceremonies the most august, had
promulgated the Declaration of Independence in
Savannah, and in all his acts had commanded the re-
spect, confidence, and devotion of his fellow citizens —
passed away suddenly, the lamp of liberty in his hand
trimmed and burning, his noble character, exalted im-
pulses, and brave deeds constituting a precious legacy
to his people. The infant State was filled with mourn-
ing.

BUTTON GWINNETT. 53

By the Council of Safety was Gwinnett, on the 4th
of March, 1777, elected President and Commander-in-
Chief of Georgia in the place of President Bulloch. In
that capacity he was to serve until such time as a
governor could be duly appointed in obedience to ex-
isting constitutional provisions. Thus had he rapidly
attained unto the highest honor within the gift of the
commonwealth.

On the same day the Council of Safety (at the ur-
gent suggestion, it is said, of the newly elected Presi-
dent), " in view of the suffering condition of many of
the inhabitants of East Florida inclining them to throw
themselves on the people of Georgia for protection,
and the alarmed condition of the Southern frontier on
account of the frequent inroads and depredations of
the Floridians," passed an order " requesting President
Gwinnett to march into Florida, with a competent
force of militia and volunteers, erecting the American
standard as he went, and proclaiming protection and
security of person and property to all who would take
the oath of allegiance to the United States." He was
also urged " to cut off all supplies from the garrison
of St. Augustine." In his absence upon the contem-
plated expedition, Jonathan Bryan was chosen to pre-
side over the Council.

The following is the full text of the commission of
Button Gwinnett as President and Commander-in-Chief
of Georgia : —

"At a Council held at Savannah, in the State of
Georgia, the fourth day of March in the year of our
Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy seven,
appointed by the Representatives of the People of the
State of Georgia aforesaid :

54 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

To our trusty and well-beloved Button Gwinnett,
Esquire, Greeting:

" Whereas it was thought necessary by the Represen-
tatives of the people of this State [then Province], in
General Congress assembled on the third day of April
in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred
and seventy-six, to appoint proper officers from among
themselves or the people at large for the execution of
certain powers to them respectively delegated and in-
trusted :

" And whereas the same People by their Represen-
tatives in Congress assembled did, by their special
commission, constitute and appoint their trusty and
well-beloved Friend, Archibald Bulloch, Esquire, Presi-
dent and Commander-in-Chief of the State aforesaid,
giving and granting unto the said Archibald Bulloch
such full power and authority as is in the said commis-
sion fully and clearly pointed out and set forth :

"And whereas the said Congress did further re-
solve that in case of the death or inability to act of
such their President, so by them appointed, that then
and in such case, during the recess of Congress afore-
said, the Council aforesaid should have full power and
authority to appoint from among themselves such
other person to the office of President, so happening to
be vacant from the causes aforesaid, as to them should
seem meet:

" And whereas the said Archibald Bulloch, Esquire,
hath since departed this life, whereby the Executive
Powers of Administration have devolved upon us the
Council aforesaid :

u And whereas we have under those circumstances,
in the name of the good People of the State aforesaid,

BUTTON GWINNETT. 55

and agreeable to the power vested in us, thought
proper to elect and appoint you, the said Button
Gwinnett, President and Commander-in-Chief of the
said State :

" Know ye therefore that we, the Council aforesaid,
during the Recess of the Legislative Body of the
State aforesaid, by whatsoever name they may be ,
called, reposing special Trust and confidence in the
Prudence, Courage, Patriotism, and Integrity of you
the said Button Gwinnett, have thought fit to consti-
tute and appoint, and by these Presents do constitute
and appoint you, the said Button Gwinnett, to be
President and Commander-in-Chief of the State of
Georgia aforesaid, agreeable to the powers and au-
thority vested in us by the Resolves and Regulations
of the said Congress. And we do hereby charge and
command you to do and execute all things in due
manner that shall belong unto your said command,
and the trust we have reposed in you, according to
the several powers and authorities granted or ap-
pointed you by this present commission, and the Rules,
Laws, and Regulations herewith given you, or by such
further Powers, Jurisdiction, and Authorities as shall
at any time hereafter be granted or appointed you by
the present or any future Legislature of the said State,
and according to such Resolves, Laws, and Statutes as
now are in force, or hereafter shall be made and agreed
upon by any future Legislature of the said State,
legally convened under your government^ in such man-
ner and form as is hereafter expressed.

" And our pleasure is that you, the said Button
Gwinnett, after the publication of this our Commis-
sion and Authority, do in the first place take the oath

56 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

appointed to be taken as President and Commander-
in-Chief of the State of Georgia aforesaid : And also
take, subscribe, and acknowledge the Test or Declara-
tion also appointed to be taken, subscribed, and ac-
knowledged by the said Congress, which said oath our
Attorney General, in the name of us the Council afore-
said, hath full power and authority to administer unto
you : And we do hereby give and grant unto you
full Power and Authority, with the Advice, "Consent,
and Approbation of us, the said Council, [whereof
seven shall be a quorum] from time to time, as need
shall require, to summon and call the General Congress
of this State, or by whatever name the same be called,
when the same shall be adjourned or any recess thereof
happen and necessity require. And you, the said
Button Gwinnett, with the Advice and Consent of the
Council aforesaid, shall appoint Magistrates to act dur-
ing pleasure in the several Parishes of this State for
the better advancement of Justice, and for the good
order and quiet of the people under your command,
and putting the Laws in execution, and to administer
or cause to be administered unto them such oath or
oaths as are now given for the due Execution and Per-
formance of offices and places, and for the clearing of
Truth in all cases whatever. And we do hereby
authorize, and give and grant unto you full power and
authority, with the Advice, Consent, Direction, and
Approbation of us, the Council aforesaid, when you
shall see cause, or shall judge any offender or offend-
ers in criminal matters who have been found guilty
and condemned by the Courts of Justice, properly
erected, or for any fines or forfeitures due unto the
State, fit objects of mercy, to pardon all such offend-

BUTTON GWINNETT. 57

ers, and to remit all such fines and forfeitures [wilful
murder only excepted], in which case ycu shall like-
wise have power, upon extraordinary occasions, to
grant Reprieves unto the offenders until you may be
further advised in the premises. And we do by these
presents give and grant unto you, the said Button
Gwinnett, with the advice and consent of the Council,
by yourself, or by your Captain and Commander by
you to be authorized, full power and authority to levy,
arm, muster, command and employ ail persons whatso-
ever residing within the said State of Georgia under
your Government ; and, as occasion shall serve, to
march from one place to another, or to embark them
for the resisting and withstanding of all enemies,
pirates, and powers coming with hostile intention
against the State both at sea and land, if necessity
shall require for defence of the same against the in-
vasion or attempts of any of our enemies; and such
enemies, if there shall be occasion, to pursue and
prosecute in or out of the limits of this State : and, if
it shall so please God, them to vanquish, apprehend,
and take ; and being taken, either according to law
to put to death, or keep and preserve alive at your
discretion.

" And we do hereby give and grant unto you full
power and authority, by and with the advice and
consent of us, the said Council, to erect, raise, and
build in the said State of Georgia, during the ad-
journment or recess of the said Congress or Legislative
Body, such and so many Forts, Platforms, Castles, and
Fortifications as you, by the advice aforesaid, shall
judge necessary : and the same or any of them to for-
tify and furnish with ordnance, ammunition, and all

58 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

sorts of stores fit and necessary for the security and
defence of the said State ; and by the advice afore-
said, the same again to demolish or dismantle as may
be most convenient. And generally to do and execute
all and every thing and things agreeable to the laws,
regulations, and proceedings of Congress, and the
Constitution under which you are called forth to act,
and which to you, the said Button Gwinnett — as our
President and Commander-in-Chief — doth, or ought
of right to belong.

" And we do hereby require, charge, and command
all officers and ministers, civil and military, and all
other inhabitants of the State of Georgia to be obedi-
ent : aiding and assisting you, the said Button Gwin-
nett, in the execution of this our commission, and of
the Powers and Authorities herein contained, and ac-
cording to the true sense and meaning thereof.

u This commission to continue and be in force until
revoked by the Legislative authority of this State.

u Signed and sealed by us in the Council Chamber in
Savannah the fourth day of March in the year of our
Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy seven.

Jona™ Bryan.

Ja'. Dunwody.

William Bryan.

Samuel Saltus.

B. Andrew.

Adam Brisbane.

Jn°. B. Girardeau.
By command.

James Whitefield, Secretary."

Prior to issuing this commission a resolution had

BUTTON GWINNETT 59

been adopted by the General Assembly to add three
battalions of infantry and a squadron of dragoons to
the Georgia troops serving on the Continental estab-
lishment, and to form them into a brigade. Colonel
Lachlan Mcintosh was promoted to the rank of briga-
dier-general, and assigned to the command of these
forces. Gwinnett had been a candidate for this posi-
tion, and he became thoroughly embittered by Mc-
intosh's success. When he assumed the reins of gov-
ernment he permitted not his anger to slumber. In
order to mortify the military pride of his adversary
and to impair his influence, he impressed upon the
public mind the danger of investing army officers and
courts-martial with powers which could possibly be
withheld from them and entrusted to the civil authori-
ties. Acting upon this theory, he intervened in mili-
tary matters to such an extent that he seriously im-
paired the discipline of the troops, and incited among
the officers a spirit of insubordination toward the
commanding general. Thus, when an officer was
charged with an offense, either civil or military, Gwin-
nett claimed the right of trying him before the Execu-
tive Council. If detailed for special duty, or assigned
to a temporary command of moment, he insisted that
he should take his orders from the president and coun-
cil. The effect of all this, as may well be imagined,
was demoralizing to the army and most galling to
General Mcintosh.

Anxious to signalize his administration by a feat of
arms, Gwinnett, acting upon the suggestion of Council,
planned the expedition against East Florida. The
prospect of retaliation was pleasing to the public, and
in the breast of the president there lurked an ambi-

60 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

tious hope that he would be able to overrun and subdue
that sparsely populated province and annex it to
Georgia. Instead of entrusting its command to Gen-
eral Mcintosh, who, as the ranking military officer of
the State, was clearly entitled to expect and to claim
it, Gwinnett, heaping affront upon affront, set him
aside, and determined in person to lead the expedition.
His deliberate purpose was, with the militia of the
State and the Continental troops then stationed in
Georgia, to form an army of invasion without consult-
ing General Mcintosh on the subject, or even allowing
him to accompany his brigade. The movement was to
be immediate. Proclamations were printed which he
proposed to scatter broadcast through the land so soon
as he crossed the river St. Mary. He labored under
the impression that, to insure success and encourage
the inhabitants to a change of government, nothing
would be needed save to hoist the standard of liberty
in Florida and make a show of a supporting army.
Advised, however, that the province of East Florida
was in large measure peopled by loyalists from Georgia
and South Carolina, that no reliance for subsistence
could be placed upon the products of the region, and
that an accumulation of supplies was requisite before
he could venture upon the expedition, he abandoned
his scheme as at first chimerically entertained.

Still intent upon the consummation of his ambitious
project, and reiterating his resolution to lead the army
in person, he assembled his Council, denominating it for
the time being a council of war y and concerted the fol-
lowing plan of operations. Sawpit Bluff, twelve miles
from the mouth of the river St. John, was designated
as the place, and the 12th of May as the time, for the

BUTTON GWINNETT. 61

rendezvous of the forces which were to participate in
the contemplated reduction of East Florida. Colonel
Baker, with the Georgia militia, was to march by land,
while Colonel Elbert, embarking four hundred of the
Continental troops in three galleys and several small
boats, was to repair by water to the point indicated.
Having, with great difficulty, crossed the Alatamaha
River at Fort Howe, Colonel Baker moved with only
one hundred and nine men in the execution of the
order entrusted to him. Near Nassau River he was
defeated by Colonels Brown and McGirth, and his
command was wholly dissipated.

Colonel Elbert was sorely perplexed upon finding
that he was commissioned to lead the Continental
forces, detailed for the expedition, to the exclusion of
General Mcintosh, who, as his superior officer, was en-
titled to claim that distinction. He was also greatly
concerned at the abnormal condition of affairs brought
about by orders emanating from President Gwinnett
and his Council, by which he was required to report
directly to, and to receive his instructions from, the
Governor and Council. Communicating with General
Mcintosh, he advised him of the disagreeable situation
in which he found himself, and expressed his regrets
that the orders issued did not come through him as his
commanding general. He even went so far as to re-
monstrate with the Governor and Council in regard to
this irregularity. Gwinnett, however, controlled his
Council, insisted upon his rights as commander-in-chief,
and, being of an imperious will and implacable in his
hate, continued to supplant General Mcintosh and to
subject him to humiliation. The detachment of Con-
tinentals led by Colonel Elbert utterly failed in its pur-

62 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

pose ; and so, without benefit and pregnant with dis-
aster, ended an expedition conceived in ambition and
jealousy, planned without due caution, and sadly
marred in its execution.

Responding to the emergency caused by the la-
mented death of Archibald Bulloch, and in the exer-
cise of his gubernatorial powers, President Gwinnett
issued a proclamation requiring the several counties of
the State to elect delegates to a legislature which
should convene in Savannah on the first Tuesday in
May, 1777. The first and chief duty of this assembly
was to elect a successor to President Bulloch. Gwin-
nett was an avowed candidate for the position. The
Legislature met in due season, and, after organizing
by the selection of Dr. Noble W. Jones as speaker and
Samuel Stirk as secretary, proceeded to the choice of
a governor. John Adam Treutlen was elected by a
handsome majority. Grievous was Gwinnett's disap-
pointment; Mcintosh did not hesitate to openly avow
his gratification at the result. In fact, he publicly and
in the presence of the members of the Executive
Council denounced Gwinnett as a scoundrel. The quar-
rel between these gentlemen culminated on the 15th
of May, when Gwinnett challenged Mcintosh to mor-
tal combat. The challenge was promptly accepted.
They met the next morning at a spot within the pres-
ent limits of the city of Savannah. Pistol shots were
exchanged at the short distance of four paces. Both
were wounded in the thigh : Mcintosh dangerously,
Gwinnett mortally. The former was confined to his
couch for some time, and the latter, after lingering for
four days, died of his hurt. 1

1 For Dr. Lyman Hall's account of this duel, see his sketch, />arf.

BUTTON GWINNETT. 63

Intense excitement ensued. Dr. Lyman Hall, one of
Gwinnett's executors and a warm personal friend of
the deceased, and Mr. Joseph Wood brought the mat-
ter to the notice of the Legislature, and charged the
judicial officers with a neglect of duty in not arresting
Mcintosh and binding him over to answer an indictr
ment for murder. Informed of these proceedings, so
soon as his wound permitted, the general surrendered
himself to Judge Glen and entered into bonds for his
appearance. He was indicted, tried, and acquitted.
Even this determination of the matter did not allay
the malevolent feelings of the Gwinnett party, who,
incensed at the loss of their leader, used every exer-
tion to impair the influence of Mcintosh and to fetter
his efforts in the public service. Moved by these un-
toward circumstances, and yielding to the suggestion
of his friends, the general consented to leave Georgia
for the time being, and repaired to General Washing-
ton's headquarters for assignment to duty with the
Continental army. Nearly two years elapsed before
he returned to the State. During that time he ren-
dered valuable service in the common cause.

The tradition lingers that Button Gwinnett was in-
terred in the old cemetery in Savannah. So far as our
information extends, no stone marks his grave, and the
precise spot of his sepulture has faded from the recol-
lection of succeeding generations. When the monu-
ment which rises in front of the City Hall in Augusta,
perpetuating the memory of the signers from Georgia
of the Declaration of Independence, was erected, the
hope of its patriotic builders was that it would cover
the dust of all three of them. The mortal remains of
Dr. Lyman Hall and of Chief Justice George Walton

64 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

were readily found, and were then committed to the
guardian care of this memorial shaft After careful
search, no trace could be discovered of the last resting-
place of Gwinnett, and he still sleeps in a grave which
will probably never be identified.

Specimens of the chirography of this signer are very
rare. He evidently wrote but little. He died in the
forty-fifth year of his age, and his public life extended
through only a few jears. We have looked upon his
original will. It still exists. It is a holograph. The
following is a literal copy of it : —

Savannah, March 15th, 1777.

Im sound in Body and Mind for which I am under
the highest obligations to the Supreme Being. How
long I shall remain so God only knoweth : I therefore
Dispose of my Property r both real and Personal in
the Following manner.

First. Let all my Just Debts be Discharged, then
One half of my Real and Personal Estate remaining
be divided between my Wife and Daughter in equal
Shares.

The other Half of my Estate both real and Per-
sonal shall belong to and appertain unto the Rev d M r
Tho s Bosomworth his Heirs and Assigns forever, he
the said Tho § Bosomworth first giving a rec* in full of
all other Demands.

This is my last Will and Testament and I hereby
revoke all other Wills and Codicils.

The above is only intended to convey my Estate in
America.

1 Besides bis plantation on St. Catharine Island, Mr. Gwinnett was the
owner of Sutherland's Bluff, — a tract of a thousand acres of land in Lib-
erty County, — and of several other parcels of well-located land.

BUTTON GWINNETT. 65

I hereby appoint Tho s Savage and Lyman Hall
Esqr 8 as Executors to this my last Will and Testament

Button Gwinnett [seal].

Witness
Ja" Foley.
W- Hornby.
Thorn' Hovenden.

The foregoing will was admitted to" probate by
James Whitefield, " Register of Probates/ ' on the 30th
of May, 1777. On the same day Lyman Hall qualified
as Executor. 1

It would appear by the affidavits of William Hornby
and Thomas Hovenden, — two of the subscribing wit-
nesses, — that while this will bears date on the 15th
of March, 1777, it was actually published and wit-
nessed on or about the 16th of May, 1777. Hornby's
affidavit reads as follows : —

Christ Church Parish > Court of Registry
& County of Chatham > of Probates.

William Hornby of Savannah & State aforesaid
Gentl n personally appeared & being sworn maketh
Oath that the within named Button Gwinnett Esq r did,
on or about friday the 16th day of this inst May, de-
liver the paper to this deponent, now produced, pur-
porting to be his will, and said to this deponent in
words following, viz* " this is my Will, sign as a witness
thereto, and keep it, and if anything happens to me
read it & you'l know what to do with it ; " and this
deponent further saith He verily believes He, the said
Button Gwinnett, the Testator, was, at that time of

1 The inventory and appraisement of the estate of Mr. Gwinnett are on
file in the office of the Ordinary of Chatham County, Georgia.
6

66 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

sound and disposing mind and memory ; and that at
the time He signed the same as a witness, He saw Ja s
Foley's name also subscribed thereto as a witness, &
further saith not.

Wm. Hornby.

Sworn the 80th
May 1777 Before
Jam' Whitefield
Reg* of Probates.

Thomas Hovenden, in his affidavit, corroborates the
statement made by Mr. Hornby. We extract the fol-
lowing from his oath made before the Register of Pro-
bates on the 30th of May, 1777 : " The within named
Button Gwinnett Esq r dec d did, on or about the 16th
day of this ins* May, deliver the paper now produced,
in his presence, to M r W m Hornby, a subscribing Wit-
ness thereto, saying at the same time ' that it was His
Will/ or words to that purpose, and asked this de-
ponent to sign the same ; and this deponent says that
He did sign his Name thereto as a Witness, & further
saith that He is well acquainted with the Hand writing
of the said Button Gwinnett Esq r dec d , and that he
verily believes that the said paper now produced as
his will is in the Hand writing of the said Button
Gwinnett," etc.

The period was hazardous, and life peculiarly uncer-
tain. We conclude that Gwinnett drew his will at the
time the instrument bears date in anticipation of lead-
ing his projected expedition against East Florida, and
then signed it, but failed to have it witnessed. In
this state the instrument remained in his hands until,
warned by the impending duel with Mcintosh, and
upon the eve of that unfortunate affair, he completed

BUTTON GWINNETT. 67

its publication and committed it to the care of Mr. Wil-
liam Hornby, one of the subscribing witnesses, with an
injunction which denotes at least some apprehension on
his part of the possibility of his encountering a mortal
hurt in the approaching combat.

Brief but brilliant was the career of Button Gwin-
nett. Rising like a meteor, he shot athwart the zenith
of the young commonwealth, concentrating the gaze
of all, and, in a short moment, was seen no more.
Within the compass of a very few years are his brilliant
aspirations, triumphs, and reverses compressed. With-
out the accident of birth or the assistance of fortune,
he was advanced, and that most rapidly, to the highest
positions within the gift of his countrymen. Insepa-
rably associated is his name with the charter of Amer-
ican independence. Of his intelligence, force of char-
acter, ability to command success, courage, indomitable
will, tenacity of purpose, patriotism, love of liberty, and
devotion to the cause of American freedom, he gave
proof most abundant. But he was ambitious, covetous
of power, strong in his prejudices, intolerant of opposi-
tion, and violent in his hate.

Of this signer we believe no well-authenticated por-
trait exists. His name dignifies a county in Georgia,
but we know of none among the living in this State in
whose veins courses a drop of blood inherited from, or
kindred with, that of Button Gwinnett

JOHN HABERSHAM.

This gentleman — the third son of the Honorable
James Habersham and Mary Bolton — was born on
the 23d of December, 1754, at Beverley, the country
seat of his father, about nine miles from Savannah,
Georgia. He was baptized by the Reverend Bartholo-
mew Zouberbuhler, the rector and incumbent of Christ
Church in that city. His preparatory studies having
been completed at home, he matriculated at Princeton
College, New Jersey. From this institution he gradu-
ated with distinction.

Scarcely had he attained unto manhood when he
identified himself with the Revolutionists, and was soon
numbered among the most zealous advocates of Amer-
ican independence.

On the 7th of January, 1776, he was mustered into
continental service as the first lieutenant of the first
company of the battalion raised at the charge of the
United Colonies for the protection of Georgia. Of this
command his brother Joseph was commissioned Major.
With three hundred men of that battalion he was pres-
ent when Colonel Lachlan Mcintosh, from the hastily
constructed works upon Yamacraw Bluff, armed with
three four-pounder iron field-pieces, opened fire upon
the British troops led by Maitland and Grant, who
were seeking to capture and take to sea the rice-laden
vessels congregated at the wharves and along the op-
posite shore of the Savannah River.

JOHN HABERSHAM. 69

He was shortly afterwards announced as Brigade-
Major of the Georgia forces upon the Continental estab-
lishment, of which Lachlan Mcintosh was the ranking
officer and Samuel Elbert the second in command. In
this capacity he accompanied the expeditions planned,
and launched in succession by General Charles Lee,
by President Button Gwinnett, and by General Robert
Howe and Governor John Houstoun, for the reduc-
tion of St. Augustine and the subjugation of Florida.
At Fort Tonyn, where marked dissensions arose be-
tween General Robert Howe commanding, the Conti-
nental troops, Governor Houstoun controlling the
Georgia militia, and Commodore Oliver Bowen con-
ducting the supporting fleet, Major Habersham was a
member of the council of war which, in view of the
distractions existent in the American camp, because of
the sickness prevailing in the army, and in considera-
tion of the intervening obstacles, resolved it was im-
prudent to advance further and attempt the passage
of the river St. John. These expeditions were char-
acterized by lack of preparation, mismanagement, dis-
agreement between commanders, surprising mistakes,
vexatious delays, and fruitless expenditures of men
and munitions. Upon the return of the Georgia Con-
tinental troops from Fort Tonyn, Colonel John Mcin-
tosh, with one hundred and twenty-seven men, was
posted at Sunbury. General Howe repaired to Charles-
ton, South Carolina, and the regiments of Colonels El-
bert and White were sent to Savannah.

An anticipated season of rest and comparative inac-
tion was speedily interrupted by the unexpected ad-
vance from Florida of two columns, led respectively
by Colonels Fuser and Prevost, — the one moving by

70 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

land and the other transported by water, — both hav-
ing as their objective the capture of the town of Sun-
bury, and, in the end, the investment of Savannah.

While Lieutenant-Colonel Mark Prevost's progress
was being sharply contested by Colonels Baker and
White and by General Screven, Colonel Elbert, with
his command, took post at Ogeechee ferry and forti-
fied that crossing, intending there to deliver battle if
the English commander succeeded in penetrating to
that point. The failure of Colonel Fuser to effect a
junction at Sunbury on the expected day, and the
stout resistance offered, induced Colonel Prevost to re-
trace his steps. Treating the population as in open
rebellion against a lawful sovereign, and utterly ignor-
ing all rights of the invaded, that officer, upon his re-
treat, burnt Midway Meeting-House, and all dwellings,
negro quarters, rice-barns, and improvements within
his reach. The entire region was ruthlessly plundered.
The track of the retiring column was marked by smok-
ing ruins. British soldiers and Tories, unrestrained,
indulged in indiscriminate pillage, appropriating plate,
bedding, wearing apparel, and everything capable of
easy transportation. The inhabitants, particularly of
St John's Parish, were subjected to indignities, and
were, in many instances, reduced to absolute want

Acting under a commission from Colonel Elbert,
Major Habersham held an interview with Prevost, in
which certain stipulations designed to protect the in-
vaded territory from pillage and conflagration were
proposed. The English commander, however, declined
to give any guaranty in the premises, and insisted that
inasmuch as the inhabitants were rebels against the
Crown they must abide all consequences, how grievous
soever they might be.

JOHN HABERSHAM. 71

After the affair near Midway Meeting -House, in
which General Screven was severely wounded, Major
Habersham bore a flag to Colonel Prevost, requesting,
in the name of Colonel Elbert, permission to furnish
the captured general with such medical aid as his
dangerous situation demanded. In response, Doctors
Braidie and Alexander were permitted to attend upon
him; but they found, upon examination, that his wounds
were mortal, and that their surgical skill was impotent
to prolong his valuable life.

During the successful assault by Colonel Campbell
upon the American forces under General Howe, posted
to the east and south of Savannah for its protection,
on the 29th of December, 1778, Major Habersham,
still acting as Brigade-Major to Colonel Elbert who
held the left of the line, is said, by Captain Alexander
"Wylly, to have been entrusted with the service of a
part of the rebel artillery. Finding it impossible, in
the face of the impetuous charge of the enemy, to
withdraw his field-pieces, and, at the supreme moment,
ordering his cannoneers to save themselves, he refused
to quit his guns until they were completely enveloped
by the foe. The story runs that, perceiving personal
capture inevitable, he deliberately broke his seal upon
one of the cannon to prevent its passing into the own-
ership of his captors.

When the retreat was sounded a panic ensued, and
the Americans made their way, as best they could
and in a confused manner, through the town. Before
the retiring army gained the head of the causeway
traversing Musgrove's swamp west of Savannah, — the
only pass by which the retrograde movement could be
accomplished, — the enemy secured a position so as to

72 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

interrupt the crossing. By heroic exertions Colonel
Roberts kept the British at bay until the American
centre effected its escape. The rebel right wing, being
between two fires, suffered severely and was well-nigh
annihilated by wounds, death, and capture. The left,
under the command of Colonel Elbert, — who always
fought to the last, — continued the conflict with such
gallantry and pertinacity that escape by the cause-
way became impracticable. That officer was therefore
compelled to lead his troops, after forcing their way
through the town, through the rice-fields lying be-
tween the causeway and the Savannah River. In
doing so he encountered a damaging fire from the
enemy, who, pressing forward, had taken possession of
the eastern end of the causway and of the adjacent
high grounds of Ewensburg. Reaching Musgrove
Creek, he found it filled with water, for the tide was
high. Consequently only those of his command who
could swim succeeded in crossing, and this they did
with the loss of their arms and accoutrements. All
others were either drowned or captured. Among the
latter was Major Habersham. Colonel George Wal-
ton, badly wounded, had fallen into the hands of the
enemy.

In this disastrous and sadly conducted affair the
Americans lost eighty -three killed and wounded.
Thirty -eight officers and four hundred and fifteen
non-commissioned officers and privates were made cap-
tive. Forty-eight pieces of cannon, twenty-three mor-
tars, a considerable quantity of small arms and ammu-
nition, a fort, the shipping in port, and, above all, the
capital of Georgia, were among the substantial trophies
of this victory. Upon the fall of Savannah, Southern

JOHN HABERSHAM. 73 j

i

Georgia quickly passed under the dominion of the j

king's forces. Rapidly advancing, Colonel Campbell
pushed his exultant column as far as Augusta, and
even beyond.

The next occasion upon which Major Habersham,
whose detention by the enemy does not appear to
have been of long duration, was brought face to face
with the British was in the battle of Brier Creek, when
General Ash was surprised and defeated by Colonel
Prevost.

We may not here revive the memories of an en-
gagement which reflected so severely upon the repu-
tation of an American general and inflicted such loss
upon rebel arms. It is proper to state, however, that
the only ray of light amid the gloom of the whole
affair was shed by the gallantry of Colonel Elbert and
his command. That officer, assisted by Lieutenant-
Colonel John Mcintosh and Major John Habersham,
with sixty continental troops, one hundred and fifty
Georgia militia, and a field-piece, held the left of the
line of battle. Although the right and centre quickly
broke and fled in wild confusion, he prolonged the con-
flict until nearly every member of his force was either
killed, wounded, or captured. If we are correctly in-
formed, Major Habersham was here, a second time,
made prisoner. He was exchanged, however, in sea-
son to participate in the siege of Savannah in Septem-
ber and October, 1779, which culminated in the ill-
advised, bloody, and futile assault by the allied army
under Count D'Estaing and General Lincoln upon the
British lines.

The depressing effect upon the king's forces in
America produced by the surrender of Lord Cornwallis

74 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

at York town, the junction of the auxiliary troops un-
der General St. Clair, and the recent successes of Gen-
eral Greene in the Carolinas enabled that officer, in
January, 1782, to redeem his promise for the relief of
Georgia. General Wayne was detached for that pur-
pose. u To reinstate, as far as might be possible, the
authority of the Union within the limits of Georgia "
was the mission of the hero of Stony Point

Ever since Savannah, in December, 1778, passed
into the hands of the enemy, it had become a favorite
resort of the Creeks and Cherokees. There were depu-
tations from the Indian nations entertained. There
were royal presents distributed, and there were con-
cocted schemes for the annoyance of the republicans.
Aware of his acquaintance with, and conscious of the
influence he was capable of exerting over the natives,
knowing that parties of Indians still visited that town,
and desirous of either winning them over to the Amer-
ican cause or of inducing them to remain neutral in
the pending struggle, General Wayne dispatched Major
Habersham to intercept and conciliate them. He was
attended by Major Francis Moore, in command of some
South Carolina cavalry, and by Captain Patrick Carr,
who led a body of mounted militia. At first Major
Habersham was successful in his negotiations. His
plans were subsequently frustrated by reason of the
indiscretion and disobedience of a lieutenant who, with
a portion of the mounted militia, slew several of the
Indians present, and. then, making a rapid descent
upon Sunbury, killed eleven loyalists, residents of that
town. Matters were further complicated by the con-
duct of Major Moore, who, learning that the Creek
Indians had stolen some horses on the frontier of Lib-

JOHN HABERSHAM. 75

erty County, insisted upon going in pursuit of them.
These and similar transactions defeated Habersham's
mission, which otherwise might have resulted in ac-
complishing much good.

So closely was Savannah now invested by the forces
under General Wayne, and so desperate grew the situa-
tion of the king's soldiers in Georgia, that on the 23d
of May, 1782, Sir Guy Carleton issued, at New York,
an order for the evacuation both of that town and
province. The authorities were notified that trans-
ports would be provided for conveying away not only
the troops and military stores, but also Governor
Wright and all adherents of the Crown who might
desire to depart Although not unanticipated, this an-
nouncement created a profound impression alike upon
soldiers and civilians within the royal lines. The lat-
ter were most anxious to ascertain what their status
would be under the changed condition of affairs, and
to secure from the republican authorities pledges that
they would not be molested either in person or prop-
erty. Negotiations were accordingly opened, and to
Major John Habersham — an officer in the Georgia
line, a native of Savannah, a gentleman whose per-
sonal character inspired confidence, and whose high-
toned sentiment, correct conduct, and polished address
commanded the thorough confidence and respect even
of those who were inimical to the cause which he
espoused — were they confided on the part of the pa-
triots. That they were conducted by him in all fair-
ness and with becoming dignity, intelligence, and fidel-
ity, it seems scarcely necessary to add.

Savannah having been occupied by General Wayne
on the 11th of July, 1782, before setting out to rejoin

76 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

General Greene, he detailed Lieutenant-Colonel James
Jackson with his legion, and Major Habersham with
his corps of new recruits, to take charge of that town
and vicinage until civil government should be regu-
larly established. So far as Georgia was concerned, the
war was practically ended. Following close upon the
heels of the military came the members of the Execu-
tive Council. The Legislature quickly convened, and
entered upon the passage of such laws as were de-
manded by the emergency and were deemed most con-
ducive to the general good.

By the disqualifying act of July 6, 1780, passed at
Savannah by the Royalist Assembly, Major Haber-
sham, in association with other prominent members
of the republican party in Georgia, had been declared
incapable of holding or exercising any office of trust,
honor, or profit. Upon the termination of English rule
in Georgia this legislation became utterly void, and
the penalties prescribed were subsequently reckoned
as tributes to the worth and patriotism of those upon
whom they were sought to be inflicted.

As a proof of the public esteem in which he was
held he was, in 1784, elected president of the Execu-
tive Council. In that capacity he opened the Land
Court in Augusta.

During the years 1785 and 1786 he was a member,
from Georgia, of the Continental Congress. In Octo-
ber, 1786, as the chairman of the Commissioners ap-
pointed for that purpose by the State of Georgia, he
held, at Shoulder-Bone Creek, in Hancock County, a
congress at which fifty-nine chiefs, head-men, and war-
riors of the Creek nation were present The delibera-
tions of that convention resulted in the conclusion of

JOHN HABERSHAM. 77

a treaty, which was signed on the 3d of the following
November, stipulating for the peaceful conduct of the
Indians, and confirming the boundary lines as agreed
upon in the former treaties solemnized at Augusta and
Galphinton.

Another important service rendered by Major Hab-
ersham was that performed by him, as one of the Coin-
v missioners from Georgia, in accommodating at Beaufort,
South Carolina, in April, 1787, all differences touching
the boundary line between those States. The agree-
ment then reached was reduced to the form of a treaty,
which was subsequently ratified by the Congress of
the United States and also by the General Assembly of
Georgia. By the action of this convention a dispute
between sister States, which promised to be a source
of continued irritation, was amicably and satisfactorily
adjusted.

It was a tribute to his reputation as a gentleman of
liberal views and of education when, under the pro-
visions of the Act of the General Assembly of the
27th of January, 1785, he was constituted a member
of the first Board of Trustees to establish the Univer-
sity of Georgia, and u advance the interests of litera-
ture through the State."

In 1789 he was nominated and confirmed as the col-
lector of the port of Savannah. This office he con-
tinued to hold until his death, which occurred ten
years afterwards. He was summoned hence in the
zenith of his usefulness, in the full possession of all his
faculties, and at the early age of forty-five. Lanraan
fixes the date of his demise as the 19th of November,
1799. The writer is assured by his granddaughter —
Mrs. William Neyle Habersham — that he breathed

78 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

his last in the city of Savannah on the 17th of Decem-
ber, 1799, just three days after the lamented demise
of General George Washington, and while the land
was filled with mourning at the sudden departure of
the Pater Patrice.

Major Habersham was in all respects an estimable
man, fearless, honest, patriotic, public-spirited, and, in
his domestic relations, tender and true. He was the
friend of the widow and orphan ; and, as adviser and
guardian, in many instances rendered gratuitous and
most acceptable service. In his official acts, and in the
execution of the responsible trusts confided to him, he
was upright and efficient. As an officer of the Conti-
nental army he was prompt, courageous, and self-sacri-
ficing. To the cause of the Revolutionists, even in its
infancy, was his cordial allegiance given, and he never
swerved from its support until the independence of
the United Colonies was fully established. Upon the
organization of the Georgia branch of the Society of
the Order of the Cincinnati, he was complimented with
the position of its first secretary.

The influence which he exerted over the Creek and
Cherokee Indians is said to have been widespread and
salutary. If we are correctly informed, General Wash-
ington, while President of the United States, secured
his good offices as Indian agent for a portion of the
Southern Department Upon closing his accounts with
the general government^ a balance arose in Major
Habersham's favor which remains unpaid to the present
day.

The following anecdote is told by a member of his
family. On one occasion he entertained, in Savannah,
several Indian chiefs. The leading mico of the delega-

JOHN HABERSHAM. 79

tion was "Mad Dog." Upon seating himself at the
table, this chief plunged his knife into the joint of beef
which was before him, and drew it into his plate. It
constituted the pQce de resistance of the feast When
informed by his host that it was subject to partition
among his companions, the hungry savage reluctantly
restored it to the dish, and sulked until the meal was
concluded. A suit of clothes, however, presented by
the Major, restored his equanimity and confirmed his
friendship.

The old cemetery on South Broad Street in Savan-
nah, wherein sleep so many who were famous and
loved in the early days of the colony and common-
wealth, guards the dust of this distinguished Georgian j
and a beautiful county in the upper portion of the
State perpetuates a family name which for nearly a
century and a half has been here saluted with grati-
tude and honor.

JOSEPH HABERSHAM.

He was the second son of the Honorable James Hab-
ersham — a native of Yorkshire, England — and of
Mary Bolton, and was born in Savannah, Georgia, on
the 28th of July, 1751.

Among the worthies who during the colonial period
ministered to the intellectual, moral, political, and ma-
terial development of Georgia, no one is more grate-
fully remembered than the Honorable James Haber-
sham. The purity of his character, the nobility of his
aims and impulses, the utility of his acts, and the
influence of his virtuous life were at the time, and have
ever since been recognized and admired.

From the date of his arrival in Savannah early in
1738 in company with his friend the Reverend George
Whitefield, the famous evangelist and noted philanthro-
pist, until his demise in 1775, he was prominently
identified with every movement which contemplated
the amelioration of the condition of the Colonists and
the promotion of the welfare of the Province. He is
specially remembered in connection with the founda-
tion, the control, and the sustentation of the Orphan
House at Bethesda; as a most intelligent instructor
and guide of youths ; as the organizer of the earliest
Sunday-schools ; as a capable and earnest catechist ; as
a valued correspondent of the home authorities, keep-
ing them advised of the progress of affairs, and furnish-
ing apt suggestions with regard to the administration

JOSEPH HABERSHAM. 81

of the Trust ; as instrumental in procuring a rescission
of the regulation prohibiting the introduction of slave
labor into Georgia ; as a kind and thoughtful master,
providing for the temporal wants and the spiritual
edification of his numerous servants ; as the founder of
the earliest mercantile house in Savannah, enjoying
high credit both at home and abroad, and possessing
commercial relations with Philadelphia, New York,
Boston, the West Indies, and England ; as the efficient
secretary of the Colony j as an energetic commissioner
of silk-culture ; as an assistant to Mr. Graham, presi-
dent of the Province upon the surrender, by the Trus-
tees* of its management, and prior to the erection of
the royal government; subsequently, as secretary and
registrar ; and, finally, as the governor pro tempore of
Georgia during the absence of Sir James Wright

For this responsible position his education, his per-
sonal acquaintance with the inhabitants, his thorough
knowledge of the history, development, and wants of
the Colony, his long experience in the conduct of its
public and domestic affairs, the purity of his character,
and the high esteem in which he was held, admirably
qualified him. He was the firm friend of law, order,
the Established Church, and of the British Constitution.
Loyal to his king, his affiliations were with those who
obeyed the acts of Parliament, observed the orders of
the Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations, and
maintained their allegiance to the throne of England.
In this mind he lived and died. He closed his eyes
just as the storm of the primal Revolution began to
overshadow the land. While his sons espoused the
" patriot cause," their honored father kept faith with
his king; and, in departing, lamented the division of
6

82 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

political sentiment which was engendering fratricidal
strife and betokening a bloody and relentless war.

It excites no surprise that the elder, the wealthier,
and the more influential citizens of Georgia should, in
the main, at this epoch, have tenaciously clung to the
fortunes of the Crown and sincerely deprecated all idea
of a separation from the mother country. To such a
course were they prompted by natural allegiance, by
tradition, and by the strongest ties. Besides all this, of
the American colonies Georgia had subsisted most gen-
erously upon royal bounty, and had been the recipient of
favors far beyond those accorded to sister plantations.
The younger members of the leading families, however,
in many instances, sympathized with the revolutionists,
and thus division arose even within the household.
While James Habersham, Noble Jones, the elder Hous-
toun, the elder Tattnall, and others enjoying distinc-
tion in the annals of the Colony, avowed and main-
tained to the last their devotion to the realm, their
sons were found among the earliest and the most potent
advocates of a speedy and radical separation from the
parent nation. 1

1 In an old Family Bible of the Habersham family appears the following
entry : " James Habersham, the most respected and lamented Parent of
the persons whose births and deaths are recorded in this Sacred Book,
was born at Beverley, Yorkshire, England, in the year in 2, and died at
Brunswick, New Jersey, 28th August, 1775, aged 63 years. His corpse,
attended by two of his sons who were with him at the time of his decease,
was carried to New York and interred in a vault of Trinity Church, pre-
paratory to its removal to Savannah, — the funeral service being performed
by the Rector of that church.

" On the 14th of November [following] the corpse was landed from the
Sloop Hope, — Captain Andrew Brown, — and deposited in the family
vault in our Cemetery [on South Broad Street, in Savannah, Georgia].

44 He was among the early and most useful settlers of the Province of
Georgia, and discharged some of the most honorable trusts under the

JOSEPH HABERSHAM. 83

After a preparatory course of study pursued in the
best schools in Savannah, Joseph Habersham repaired
to Princeton College, then under the presidency of the
famous Doctor Witherspoon, and there completed his
collegiate education. While at college he exhibited
that quick, ardent temper, that brave and chivalrous
spirit, and that independence of thought and action*
which so signally characterized him in after life. Re-
turning home he at once and unhesitatingly avowed his
sympathies with the "liberty Boys," and was by them
accorded position replete alike with responsibility, with
honor, and with danger.

In association with Dr. Noble Wymberley Jones,
Edward Telfair, William Gibbons, Joseph Clay, John
Milledge, and a few others, — most of them members
of the Council of Safety, and all zealous in the cause of
American liberty, — at a late hour on the night of the
11th of May, 1775, he broke open the king's magazine
in Savannah, and removed therefrom some six hundred
pounds of gunpowder ; a portion of which, if we may
credit a well-approved tradition, was forwarded to Cam-
bridge, Massachusetts, and issued to the rebel army.

As a member of the Council of Safety, he corre-
sponded with the Continental Congress and with other
patriotic bodies, and was instant in devising measures
for the defense of Georgia and the enkindling of a war-
like flame within her borders.

In July, 1775, under the joint leadership of Joseph
Habersham and Captain Bo wen, a detachment of picked

Royal Government with such unsullied Integrity, Loyalty, and Independ-
ence, as to acquire for him the esteem and respect of the wise and the
good of our Community.

u He was a sincere Believer in the Christian Religion, and lived up to
its precepts as far as the infirmities of our Nature would allow."

84 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

men, conveyed in a Georgia armed schooner l commis-
sioned by Congress, effected, at the mouth of the
Savannah River, the capture of Captain Maitland's ship
direct from London and freighted with gunpowder and
other military stores. At the earnest solicitation of the
Continental Congress, five thousand pounds of this pow-
der were forwarded to Philadelphia, where they were
issued to the armies of the United Colonies. From the
same source were the magazines of Georgia and South
Carolina supplied.

Of the Provincial Congress, which convened in Sa-
vannah on the 4th of July, 1775, and placed the Prov-
ince of Georgia u on the same footing with her sister
colonies," he was a leading member ; and on the 7th of
January in the following year he was appointed major
of the battalion raised for the protection of Georgia, of
which Lachlan Mcintosh was made colonel, and Samuel
Elbert lieutenant-colonel. Subsequently, he rose to
the rank of colonel in the Continental army.

When the Council of Safety resolved upon the arrest
and confinement of Sir James Wright, the royal gover-
nor, so that there might be no longer any show of Eng-
lish dominion within the limits of the province, Major
Habersham volunteered for and successfully performed
the service. Governor Wright was arrested in his res-
idence, which occupied the lot at a later date graced by
the home of Governor Telfair. Through the muni-
ficence of his daughters, this Telfair mansion has been
converted into an academy of arts and sciences.

The bravery of the act cannot be too highly com-

1 This schooner, armed with " ten carriage guns and many swivels," and
carrying a complement of fifty men, is said to have been the first provincial
vessel commissioned for naval warfare in the Revolution ; and this the first
capture made by order of any Congress in America.

JOSEPH HABERSHAM. 85

mended ; and the physical courage displayed was tran-
scended by the moral heroism involved in thus openly
defying the power of the Realm, and in humbling the
duly constituted representative of the Crown in the
presence of the Colony he was commissioned to rule.
The effect was startling, — dramatic.

In frustrating the attempt of Captain Barclay and
Major Grant to capture the shipping lying in the port
of Savannah, during the memorable siege of Savannah
in September and October, 1779, and on various occa-
sions during the progress of the War of the Revolution,
Colonel Habersham rendered gallant and important
service.

The struggle ended, he was twice honored by an
election to the Speaker's chair in the General Assembly
of his native State. From 1785 to 1786 he was a del-
egate to the Continental Congress, and in 1788 was a
member of the convention which ratified the Federal
Constitution. In 1792 he was mayor of the city of
Savannah. The year previous he was one of the com-
mittee which complimented President Washington with
an address of welcome upon the occasion of his visit to
Savannah.

By President Washington was he appointed, in 1795,
Postmaster-General of the United States. This posi-
tion he filled with entire acceptability also during the
presidential term of the elder Adams. Upon the acces-
sion of Mr. Jefferson, he was the recipient of a polite
note conveying a tender of the office of Treasurer of
the United States. Interpreting this as an intimation
that his resignation of the position of Postmaster-
General would be agreeable to the newly elected Pres-

86 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

ident, he promptly surrendered his portfolio 1 and
returned to Savannah, where, entering upon a mercan-
tile life, he essayed to repair a fortune which had been
seriously dissipated by the calamities of war. 2 In 1802
he became the president of the Branch Bank of the
United States at Savannah. This office he retained
until his death, which occurred on the 17th of Novem-
ber, 1815.

The commercial house of Harris & Habersham, or-
ganized by his father in 1749, was, after the lapse of
many years, practically revived by Colonel Habersham.
To the present day it has been perpetuated by mem-
bers of the Habersham family, and at all times with
marked probity, influence, and success.

" We have said," remarks another, " that Colonel
Habersham was quick and ardent in temper; but,

1 It is believed that in this removal of Colonel Habersham — indirectly
and delicately compassed as it was by Mr. Jefferson — occurred one of the
earliest illustrations of the application of the doctrine, " to the victors be-
long the spoils." His selection by General Washington to fill the office of
Postmaster-General of the United States was wholly unsolicited on his
part, and must be regarded as a special tribute to the character and ability
of Colonel Habersham. " At a period when so many, from great and
devoted service to the country, had claims to office, and these claims well
known and appreciated, and when the selection was made by Washington,
this appointment was the best evidence of his great merit and of the gen-
eral estimation in which he was held. In this office, as has been already
stated, he continued until the accession of Mr. Jefferson to the presidency.
But he retained the office so long by no cringing or truckling to the higher
authorities ; for the President, Mr. Adams, having told him that the post-
office department was an Augean stable, and must be cleansed, — meaning
that the postmasters who were of the opposite party must be removed, —
Colonel Habersham replied that these officers had discharged their duty
faithfully, and that therefore he would not remove them, but that the Pres-
ident could remove the Postmaster- General. This, however, Mr. Adams,
it seems, did not think proper to do." National Portrait Gallery, vol. iv.,
article, " Joseph Habersham."

3 He was a member of the commercial house of Joseph Clay & Company.

JOSEPH HABERSHAM. 87

although quick to take offense, he was ready and
anxious to make atonement for the slightest wrong ;
kind and indulgent to his slaves ; humane and liberal
to the poor ; strict in the performance of all his con-
tracts; tenacious of his own as he had been of the
rights of his country. Allowing to others the same in-
dependent and frank expression of opinion which he
always exercised for himself, he may with truth be pro-
nounced to have been a fine specimen of that noble,
generous, and chivalric race which achieved the liberty
and independence of our happy country.

LYMAN HALL.

The subject of this sketch was a descendant in the
fifth generation of John Hall, who, coming from Coven-
try, England, crossed the Atlantic in the ship Griffin,
and, after a sojourn in Boston and New Haven, estab-
lished his home at Wallingford, Connecticut. In this
village Lyman Hall, son of the Hon. John Hall and
Mary Street, was born on the 12th of April, 1724.

Graduating from Yale College in 1747, in a class of
twenty-eight members, several of whom attained distinc-
tion in after life, he entered upon the study of theology
under the guidance of his uncle, Rev. Samuel Hall. His
purpose undergoing a change he abandoned the idea of
becoming a minister of the gospel, and applied himself
to the acquisition of a medical education. After quite
a thorough preliminary course he was admitted to the
degree of Doctor of Medicine, married Mary Osborne,
and commenced the practice of his profession in his
native town.

Early in 1697 a body of Puritans from the towns of
Dorchester, Roxbury, and Milton, in Massachusetts,
taking with them their pastor, Rev. Joseph Lord, and
proclaiming their desire to encourage the foundation
of churches and the promotion of religion in the South-
ern planations, removed with their families and personal
effects and formed a new residence at Dorchester, on
the left bank of the Ashley River, not many miles
above Charlestown in South Carolina. Here these

LYMAN HALL. 89

enterprising colonists multiplied in numbers and in-
creased in wealth, exerting a strong moral and politi-
cal influence. Attracted by tidings of the prosperity
of this settlement, and anxious to advance his profes-
sional and personal interests, Dr. Hall — himself in full
sympathy with the religious tenets of these Congrega-
tionalists — in the twenty-eighth year of his age aban-
doned his home at Wallingford, and cast his lot among
the Puritan dwellers at Dorchester and Beach Hill in
South Carolina. He was cordially welcomed, and
appears at once to have secured the confidence of the
community.

After a residence of rather more than fifty years in
this swamp region of Carolina, finding their lands im-
poverished and insufficient for the rising generation,
Dorchester and Beach Hill proving unhealthy, — the
good reports of the lands in southern Georgia having
been confirmed upon the personal inspection of certain
members of the society who had been sent for that
purpose, and a grant * of 22,400 acres of rich land hav-
ing been secured from the Georgia authorities, — the
members of the Dorchester society, in 1752, began
moving into what is now the swamp region of Lib-
erty County. This territory lay between Mount Hope
Swamp on the north and Bull Town Swamp on the
south. Begun in 1752, the immigration continued
until 1771, and embraced about three hundred and
fifty whites and fifteen hundred negro slaves. The
influx of this population was most marked during the
years 1754, 1755, and 1756. It was about this time
that Dr. Hall, following the fortunes of his newly formed
friends, accompanied them to the Midway settlement,

1 This grant was subsequently enlarged by the addition of 9,950 acres.

90 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

and became the owner of a small plantation a few miles
north of Midway Meeting-House on the line of the
Savannah and Darien highway, — a road connecting
the northern and southern confines of the province,
which had been completed under the guidance of Tomo-
chi-chi and by the command of General Oglethorpe.
The region into which th^ Dorchester congregation
thus immigrated was known as the "Midway district"
The country was densely wooded, marish, and filled
with game. Ducks and geese in innumerable quanti-
ties frequented the low grounds, creeks, and lagoons.
Wild turkeys and deer abounded. Bears and beavers
dwelt in the swamps, and buffalo herds wandered in the
neighborhood. There was no lack of squirrels, rac-
coons, opossums, rabbits, snipe, woodcock, cranes, herons,
and rice-birds. Wildcats and hawks were the pest of
the region, while the cry of the cougar was often heard
in the depths of the vine-clad woods. The waters were
alive with fishes, alligators, terrapins, and snakes.

In utter disregard of the manifest laws of health,
these immigrants located their dwellings and planta-
tion quarters on the edges of the swamps, and in such
malarial situations passed the entire year. While corn,
potatoes, and peas were planted on the upland, chief
attention was bestowed upon the cultivation of rice.
To that end, the swamps, at great labor, were cleared,
ditched, and drained. A miasmatic soil was thus ex-
posed to the action of the sun ; and, as a direct conse-
quence of injudicious location and a too frequent in-
attention to domestic comfort, occurred violent sickness
and considerable mortality.

Dr. Hall found ample employment for his best pro-
fessional skill, and endeared himself to the community

LYMAN HALL. 91

by his unremitting exertions to counteract the per-
nicious influences of bilious fevers during the summer
and fall, and pleurisies in the winter and spring.

In 1758 Mark Carr conveyed three hundred acres of
land bordering upon Midway River to certain trustees,
with instructions to lay out a town to be called Sun-
bury. So soon as the lots were surveyed and desig-
nated, many members of the Midway congregation, at-
tracted by the beauty and salubrity of the location,
became purchasers, and there established their summer
homes. Among them was Dr. Lyman Hall, who bought
two of the most desirable lots, numbers • 33 and 34,
fronting on the bay. Here he built a residence, and
spent most of his time when not actively employed in
visiting his patients. His reputation as a successful
practitioner and sympathizing friend was most enviable.
In fact, he speedily became the leading physician of the
town and adjacent country. His polite address, liter-
ary attainments, public spirit, social habits, thoughtful
views, and well-rounded character united in rendering
him popular and influential with the inhabitants of
St. John's Parish. That he entertained a lively inter-
est in public affairs, and enjoyed the confidence of his
fellow-citizens, is evident from the prominence accorded
to him when the differences between England and her
American colonies were seriously discussed, and the
question of a separation from the mother country was
gravely considered. His sympathies from the first were
with the " Liberty Boys," and his arguments and labors
were boldly expended in compassing liberation from
kingly rule. Georgia occupied a position peculiar
among her sister colonies. Since her settlement she
had received by grant of Parliament nearly £200,000,

92 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

besides generous bounties extended in aid of silk culture
and various agricultural products. The paternal care
of the Crown had been kindly and signally manifested
in her behalf. As a natural consequence, there existed a
marked division of sentiment upon the political ques-
tions which agitated the community during the years
immediately preceding open rupture between England
and America. The royal party was active and strong,
and it required no little effort on the part of the rebels to
acquire the mastery and place the province fairly within
the lists of the revolutionists. The line of demarcation
was sometimes so sharply drawn that father was arrayed
against son, and brother against brother. Thus, not to
multiply examples, the Hon. James Habersham and
Colonel Noble Jones maintained their allegiance to the
Crown, while their sons were among the foremost cham-
pions of the rights claimed by the rebels. The cruel
effects of such disagreements, experienced prior to and
during the progress of the Revolution, were projected
beyond even the final establishment of the republic.
Governor Wright was most energetic in upholding the
fortunes of his royal master, and succeeded in delaying
action on the part of the Colony. Through his influ-
ence, Georgia was not represented in the first session of
the Continental Congress. The Parish of St. John —
which then possessed nearly one third of the aggregate
wealth of Georgia, and the citizens of which were noted
for their thrift, courage, honesty, and determination —
chafed under the inaction of the province, which bred
dissatisfaction at home, and called down denunciation
most violent from the republican party in South Caro-
lina. The Puritan element in the parish, cherishing
and proclaiming intolerance of Established Church and

LYMAN HALL. 93

of the divine right of kings, impatient of restraint, ac-
customed to independent thought and action, and care-
less of associations which encouraged tender memories
of and love for the mother country, asserted its hatreds,
its affiliations, and its hopes with no uncertain utter-
ance, and appears to have controlled the action of the
entire parish. In commenting upon the disturbed con-
dition of affairs, Governor Wright advised the Earl of
Dartmouth that the head of the rebellion in Georgia
should be located in St John's Parish, and that the rev-
olutionary measures there inaugurated were to be
mainly referred to the influence of the "descendants
of New England people of the Puritan independent
sect," who, " retaining a strong tincture of republican
or Oliverian principles, have entered into an agreement
among themselves to adopt both the resolutions and
associations of the Continental Congress/'

On the revolutionary altars erected within the Mid-
way district were the fires of resistance to the dominion
of England earliest kindled ; and of all the patriots of
that uncompromising community Lyman Hall, by his
counsel, exhortations, and determined spirit, added stout-
est fuel to the flames. Between the immigrants from
Dorchester and the distressed Bostonians existed not
only the ties of a common lineage, but also sympathies
born of kindred religious, moral, social, and political
education. It is therefore not difficult to perceive why
the Midway settlement declared at such an early period
and in such an emphatic manner for the revolutionists.

Dissatisfied with the failure of the Savannah Congress
to place the province in direct association with the other
twelve American colonies, the inhabitants of St. John's
Parish, under the leadership of Lyman Hall, resolved

94 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

" to exert themselves to the utmost, and to make every
sacrifice that men impressed with the strongest sense
of their rights and liberties, and warm with the most
benevolent feelings for their oppressed brethren, can
make to stand firmly or fall gloriously in the common
cause." They called a convention of their own, ex-
tending invitations to the inhabitants of other parishes,
in the hope " that, if a majority of the parishes would
unite with them, they would send deputies to join the
General Congress, and faithfully and religiously abide
by and conform to such determination as should there
be entered into, and come from thence recommended."

This effort failing of success, on the 9th of February,
1775, at a meeting of the inhabitants of St. John's
Parish, — convened at Midway and presided over by
Lyman Hall, — Joseph Wood, Daniel Roberts, and Sam-
uel Stevens, members of the parish committee, were
deputed with a carefully prepared letter to repair to
Charlestown, South Carolina, and request of the Com-
mittee of Correspondence their "permission to form an
alliance with them, and to conduct trade and commerce
according to the Act of Non-importation to which they
had already acceded." Among other arguments ad-
vanced in that communication, framed and signed by
Dr. Hall as chairman, we find the following : —

"Our being a parish of a non-associated province
cannot, we presume, prevent our joining the other
provinces, as the restrictions mentioned in the 14th
clause of the General Association must, as we apprehend,
be considered as a general rule only, and respects this
province considered in a mixed or promiscuous sense ;
but as we of this parish are a body detached from the
rest by our resolutions and association, and sufficiently

LYMAN HALL. 95

distinct by local situation, large enough for particular
notice, and have been treated as such by a particular
address from the late Continental Congress, adjoining a
seaport, and in that respect capable of conforming to
the General Association, and (if connected with you)
with the same fidelity as a distinct parish of your own
province : therefore we must be considered as compre-
hended within the spirit and equitable meaning of the
Continental Association, and we are assured you will not
condemn the innocent with the guilty, especially when
a due separation is made between them."

Beaching Charlestown on the 23d of February, Messrs.
Wood, Roberts, and Stevens waited upon the General
Committee and earnestly endeavored to accomplish their
mission. While expressing their admiration of the pa-
triotism of the parish, and entreating its citizens to
persevere in their laudable exertions, the Carolinians
deemed it "a violation of the Continental Association
to remove the prohibition in favor of any part of a
province."

Disappointed, and yet not despairing, the inhabitants
of St. John's Parish u resolved to prosecute their claims
to an equality with the Confederated Colonies " Having
adopted certain resolutions by which they obligated
themselves to hold no commerce with Savannah or
other places except under the supervision of a commit-
tee, and then only with a view to procuring the neces-
saries of life, and having avowed their entire sympathy
with all the articles and declarations promulgated by
the General Congress, the inhabitants of St. John's Par-
ish elected Dr. Lyman Hall as a delegate to represent
them in the Continental Congress. This appointment
occurred on the 21st of March, 1775, and was conferred

96 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

in direct recognition of his prominent and persistent
services in behalf of the revolutionists. No more suit-
able selection could have been made. Among the prom-
inent citizens of the parish no one enjoyed a more
enviable reputation for courage, ability, wisdom, and
loyalty to the aims of the republican party. When
departing for the Continental Congress, he carried with
him, as a present from his constituents to the suffering
patriots in Massachusetts, one hundred and sixty barrels
of rice and fifty pounds sterling.

The patriotic spirit of its inhabitants, and this inde-
pendent action of St John's Parish in advance of the
other Georgia parishes, were afterwards acknowledged
when all the parishes were in accord in the revolution-
ary movement As a tribute of praise, and in token
of general admiration, the name of Liberty County was
conferred upon the consolidated parishes of St John,
St Andrew, and St James. On the 13th of May, 1775,
Dr. Hall, who had been so instrumental in persuading
the Parish of St John to this independent course,
attended at the door of Congress, presented his creden-
tials, and was unanimously "admitted as a delegate from
the Parish of St. John in the Colony of Georgia, subject to
such regulations as Congress should determine relative
to his voting." Until Georgia was fully represented, he
declined to vote upon questions which were to be de-
cided by a vote of colonies. He participated, however,
in the debates, recorded his opinion in cases where an
expression of sentiment by colonies was not required,
and declared his earnest conviction " that the example
which had been shown by the parish which he repre-
sented would be speedily followed, and that the repre-
sentation of Georgia would soon be complete."

LYMAN HALL. 97

This came to pass within a very few months, and
Georgia assumed her station and responsibilities in the
sisterhood of Confederated Colonies.

By successive appointments Dr. Hall was continued
as a member from Georgia of the Continental Congress.
•Upon the fall of Savannah in December, 1778, and the
capture of Sunbury, the entire coast region of Georgia
passed into the possession of the king's forces, which
overran, plundered, and exacted the most onerous trib-
ute. To the families of those who maintained their
allegiance to the rebel cause no mercy was shown.
Stripped of property, their homes rendered desolate,
often without food and clothing, they were dependent
upon the charity of impoverished neighbors.

Dr. Hall's residence in Sunbury and his rice plantation
near Midway Meeting-House were despoiled. Under such
melancholy circumstances he removed his family to the
North, and there resided until the evacuation of Savan-
nah in 1782. While his services as a member of the Con-
tinental Congress were perhaps not as conspicuous as
those rendered by some of his brethren, it may never-
theless be fairly claimed that he was regular, earnest,
and intelligent in the discharge of the important duties
devolving upon him. He was present, and in association
with Button Gwinnett and George Walton affixed his
signature to the Declaration of Independence.

Between Dr. Hall and the gifted, ambitious Gwinnett
existed a warm friendship. The former resided at Sun-
bury, and the latter upon St Catherine Island, within
distant sight of that pleasant village. They constantly
exchanged social courtesies, and were of one mind
upon the political questions which then agitated and
divided the public thought As president of the Coun-

98 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

cil of Safety and Commander-in-Chief of Georgia, Gwin-
nett, in 1777, anxious to signalize his administration by
a feat of arms, planned an expedition for the subjuga-
tion of East Florida. Instead of intrusting the command
of the forces employed to General Lachlan Mcintosh*
who, as the ranking military officer of Georgia, was
entitled in all fairness and in accordance with custom
to expect and to claim it, Gwinnett set him aside and
determined in person to lead the expedition. Mcin-
tosh was not even permitted to accompany his brigade,
and Colonel Elbert was assigned to the command of
the Continental forces to the exclusion of his superior
officer. General Mcintosh was naturally incensed at
this conduct of Gwinnett, and denounced him in un-
measured terms.

Soon after, when, in the exercise of his gubernatorial
powers and responding to the emergency caused by
the lamented death of Archibald Bulloch, Gwinnett
convened the Legislature to elect his successor, Mcin-
tosh espoused the choice of John Adam Treutlen, who
was the rival candidate for popular favor. Gwinnett
had set his heart upon the office, and was grievously
disappointed at the selection of his opponent So vio-
lent was the animosity harbored by Mcintosh, that,
during the short but heated canvass, he publicly de-
nounced Gwinnett in unmeasured terms. The quarrel
between these gentlemen culminated on the 15th of
May, 1777, when Gwinnett challenged Mcintosh to
mortal combat. They met the next morning at sunrise
within the present limits of the city of Savannah.
What then transpired we relate in the language of Dr.
Hall, who, in a postscript to a letter addressed to the
Hon. Roger Sherman, under date of Savannah, June 1,
1777, writes as follows : —

LYMAN HALL. 99

"I resume my Pen to confirm what you have no
Doubt heard, that our worthy Friend Gwinnett has
unfortunately fell. The Contention between him &
the Gen 1 run high, principally respect g the Expedition
against E. Florida, which bro* on an Enquiry in the
House of Assembly into the Conduct of M r Gwinnett
who, as President & Commander in Chief, had made
the preparations & meant with the Militia, and aid of
Continent 1 Troops, to have carried them into Execution
as principal Leader & Commander : he proceeded as far
as Sunbury, — from this about 40 mile, — with a small
Fleet, from thence sent for the Militia and Continent 1
Troops to join him — few of the Militia turned out,
except those of the Parish of St John, & when the
Gen 1 with the Continent 1 Troops arrived, M r Gwinnett
summoned a Council of War, but the Gen 1 it seems
would not hold a Council of War with him : he re-
peated his Summonses, but to no purpose, on which
Mr. Gwinnet's Council & the Field Officers of the Gen 1
advised both to return to this place and leave the com-
mand of the Expedition to the next Officer. This mat-
ter was laid before the Assembly, where both appeared
and were heard, on which the Assembly Resolved 'that
they approved the Conduct of M r Gwinnett & his Coun-
cil so far as those matters had been laid before them/
Here it was (in Assembly) that the Gen 1 called him
(as 'tis said) a Scoundrell & lying Rascal — I confess I
did not hear the words, not being so nigh the parties ;
however it seems agreed that it was so. A Duel was
the consequence, in wh h they were placed at 10 or 12
foot Distance. Discharged their Pistols nearly at the
same Time. Each wounded in the Thigh. M r Gwin-
nett's thigh broke so that he fell — on wh h ('tis said)

100 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

the Gen 1 Asked him if he chose to take another shot —
was answered Yes, if they would help him up (or words
nearly the same). The seconds interposed. M r Gwin-
nett was brought in, the Weather Extremely hot. A
Mortification came on — he languish'd from that Morn-
ing (Friday) till Monday Morning following, & expired.
u Liberty ! Why do you suffer so many of your
faithful sons, your warmest Votaries, to fall at your
Shrine ! Alas ! my Friend, my Friend !

"Excuse me, D r Sir, the Man was Valuable, so attached
to the Liberty of this State & Continent that his whole
Attention, Influence, & Interest centered in it, & seemed
riveted to it. He left a Mournful Widow and Daugh r
& I may say the Friends of Liberty on a whole Conti-
nent to deplore his Fall." . . .

Gwinnett's death caused intense excitement. Dr.
Hall — one of his executors and a warm personal friend
— and other gentlemen of influence brought the matter
to the notice of the Legislature, and charged the judi-
cial officers with a neglect of duty in not arresting Mc-
intosh and binding him over to answer to the charge
of murder. Informed of these facts, so soon as his
wound permitted, the general surrendered himself to
Judge Glen, entered into bonds for his appearance, was
indicted, tried, and acquitted. Even this determination
of the matter did not allay the resentment of the
Gwinnett party, who, incensed at the loss of their
leader, used every exertion to impair the influence of
Mcintosh and to fetter his efforts in the public service.
At the suggestion of his friends, he repaired to the
headquarters of General Washington for assignment to

LYMAN HALL. 101

duty in other quarters. For nearly two years he re-
mained absent from his native State.

Upon his return to Georgia, Dr. Hall selected Savan-
nah as his home, and, with shattered fortunes, resumed
the practice of his profession. While thus quietly
employed he was, in January, 1783, elected Governor
of Georgia.

His acknowledgment of the honor thus conferred
was expressed in the following brief inaugural address :

"Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the House op Assembly :
" I esteem your unsolicited appointment of me to the
office of Chief Magistrate of this State as the greatest
honor, and I am affected with sentiments of the warm-
est gratitude on this occasion. The early and decided
part which I took in the cause of America originated
from a full conviction of the justice and rectitude of
the cause we engaged in, has uniformly continued as
the principle of my heart, and I trust will to the last
moments of my life.

" If I can, by a strict attention to the various objects
of government, and a steady and impartial exertion of
the powers with which you have invested me, carry
into execution the wise and salutary laws of the State,
it will afford a pleasing prospect of our future welfare,
brighten the dawn of independence, and establish the
genuine principles of whigism on a firm and permanent
foundation.

"The confident reliance, gentlemen, I have in the
wisdom of the council you have assigned me, and the
firm support of your honorable House, afford a flattering
expectation of succeeding in this difficult and important
trust."

102 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

Georgia had but recently emerged from the perils
and privations of the Revolution ; and, while all were
rejoicing in the inchoate blessings of independence,
poverty, sorrow, and desolation were the heritage of
many homes. The energies of his administration, which
lasted for only one year, were chiefly directed to the
establishment of land offices and the sale of confiscated
property ; to the arrangement of the public debt, and
the rewarding of officers and soldiers with bounty war-
rants for services rendered ; with the accommodation
of differences and the prevention of further disturbance
with Florida, and the adjustment of the northern boun-
dary of Georgia ; with the establishment of courts and
schools ; and with the consummation of treaties of ces-
sion from and amity with contiguous Indian nations.
The most important of these were solemnized at Au-
gusta with the Cherokee Indians in May, and with the
Creek Indians in November, 1783. Upon the assem-
bling of the Legislature at Augusta, on the 8th of July,
1783, Governor Hall, in his message, thus commended
to its members the subject of public education : —

"In addition, therefore, to wholesome laws restraining
vice, every encouragement ought to be given to intro-
duce religion, and learned clergy to perform divine
worship in honor of God, and to cultivate principles of
religion and virtue among our citizens. For this pur-
pose it will be your wisdom to lay an early foundation
for endowing seminaries of learning ; nor can you, I
conceive, lay a better than by a grant of a sufficient
tract of land, that may, as in other governments, here-
after, by lease or otherwise, raise a revenue sufficient
to support such valuable institutions."

Be it spoken and remembered to his perpetual praise

LYMAN HALL. 103

that Governor Hall, by this early and wise suggestion,
sounded the key-note and paved the way for the foun-
dation and the sustentation of the University of Geor-
gia, which, for nearly a century, has proven the parent
of higher education and civilization in Georgia. Upon
the conclusion of his term of service he resumed, in
Savannah, the practice of his profession, holding no
public office save that of judge of the inferior court of
Chatham County. This position he resigned upon his
removal to Burke County in 1790. He had evidently
prospered and accumulated a fortune somewhat un-
usual in that day and community, for he then purchased
a fine plantation on the Savannah River, not far from
Shell Bluff, and furnished it with a considerable number
of negro slaves, and all animals, implements, and provi-
sions requisite for its proper cultivation.

Here he died on the 19th of October, 1790, in the
sixty-seventh year of his age, leaving a widow Mary,
and a son John (both of whom within a short time
followed him to the tomb), and was buried in a substan-
tial brick vault situated on a bold bluff overlooking the
Savannah River. There he rested until his remains were
removed and brought to Augusta, Georgia, and placed,
in association with those of George Walton, beneath the
monument erected by patriotic citizens in front of the
court house in honor of the signers from Georgia of the
Declaration of Independence. Gwinnett's bones could
not be found; for, although it was believed that he was
interred in the old cemetery on South Broad Street in
Savannah, no stone having been erected over his grave,
all memory of the place of his sepulture had vanished.

The will of Dr. Hall, which was on file in the office
of the Court of Ordinary of Burke County, at Waynes-

104 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

boro', was destroyed by an accidental fire which con^
sumed the court house and most of the public records.
Subsequent to the removal of his remains to Augusta,
Mr. William D'Antignac, who then owned the Hall
plantation, forwarded to the corporate authorities of
Wallingford, Connecticut, the native town of the signer,
the marble slab inserted in the front of the brick vault
wherein they had so long rested. That slab is still
carefully preserved. It bears the following inscrip-
tion : —

Beneath this stone rest the remains of
Hon. Lyman Hall,

formerly Governor of this State, who departed this life
on the 19th of October, 1790, in the 67th year of his
age. In the cause of America he was uniformly a
patriot. In the incumbent duties of a husband and a
father he acquitted himself with affection and tender-
ness.

But reader, above all know from this inscription that
he left this probationary state as a true Christian and
an honest man.

To those so mourned in death, so loved in life,
The childless parent and the widowed wife
With tears inscribes this monumental stone,
That holds his ashes and expects her own.

In Sanderson's "Lives of the Signers" we are advised
that Dr. Lyman Hall was six feet high and finely pro-
portioned; that his manners were easy and polite; that
his deportment was affable and dignified; that the force
of his enthusiasm was tempered by discretion ; that he
was firm in purpose and principles; that the ascend*
ency which he gained was engendered by a mild, per-
suasive manner coupled with a calm, unruffled temper;

LYMAN HALL. 105

and that, possessing a strong, discriminating mind, he
had the power of imparting his energy to others, and
was peculiarly fitted to flourish in the perplexing and
perilous scenes of the Revolution.

While there are several engraved portraits of this
signer, we cannot speak authoritatively in regard to
the genuineness of any of them. Careful inquiry has
thus far failed to disclose the existence of any original
portrait of Dr. Hall, unless that in the Philadelphia
group, from which my friend Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet,
of New York city, had his drawing made, may be so
regarded. So far as we can ascertain, there is in Geor-
gia no original likeness of Dr. Hall. His only son died
childless, and there are no lineal descendants of this
signer. The State of Georgia perpetuates his name by
one of her counties, and the memory of his manly walk
and conversation, of his Christian virtues, useful acts,
and patriotic impulses, is and will be gratefully cher-
ished.

Although he never bore arms, or won the distinction
of an orator, he hazarded everything in the cause of
humanity and liberty, on every occasion manifesting
an exalted patriotism conscious of the blessings to be
secured and jealous of the rights to be defended.

JOHN HOUSTOUN.

This son of Sir Patrick Houstoun, Bart., — registrar
of grants, receiver of quitrents, and a member of coun-
cil under the royal government in Georgia, — was a
lawyer by profession and a gentleman of liberal edu-
cation, culture, and refinement He was born in the
Parish of St. George on the 31st of August, 1744. Re-
pudiating that allegiance to the Crown which his
father and many of the older and prominent citizens
of the Colony so earnestly cherished and steadfastly
maintained, at an early period he avowed sentiments
of disloyalty to the acts of Parliament, and espoused
the cause of the rebels. In July, 1774, we find him,
with Noble W. Jones, Archibald Bulloch, and John
Walton, extending a public invitation to all the inhab-
itants of Georgia to meet at the Liberty Pole, at Ton-
dee's Tavern, in Savannah, to consider their constitu-
tional rights and liberties as American subjects, and to
adopt such measures for the redress of existing griev-
ances as might appear proper and expedient. By
those who responded to the call Mr. Houstoun was
appointed a member of a committee to prepare resolu-
tions, similar to those which had been passed by the
Northern Colonies, expressive of their condemnation of
the recent unjust and oppressive acts of Parliament,
and of their determination to employ all lawful means
for the assertion of their constitutional rights. The
10th of the following August was fixed as the day,

JOHN HOUSTOUN. 107

and the town of Savannah was designated as the place,
for the submission, by the committee, of the desired
report

In contempt of the wish of Governor Wright, and in
utter disregard of his proclamation denouncing the
purposed assemblage as illegal and revolutionary, a
general meeting of the inhabitants of the Province was
held at Tondee's Tavern at the time suggested. The
committee then reported a series of resolutions, very
independent in their tone, and expressive of senti-
ments favorable to the redress of pending political ills
and to a union of the Province with her twelve sisters
in a confederation for the common defense. Of the
committee then raised to solicit and forward supplies
for the relief of the impoverished Bostonians, Mr.
Houstoun was a member.

The conclusions reached and promulgated by this
convocation of liberty-loving people provoked severe
comment on the part of the king's servants, intensified
the division of sentiment upon the political questions
which then agitated the popular mind, and evoked
violent protests from various quarters. In that meet-
ing the propriety of sending six deputies to the Gen-
eral Congress of the American Colonies had been dis-
cussed, but the suggestion did not meet with general
favor.

Resolved upon controlling the political fortunes of
the Province, and intent upon moulding public senti-
ment to their will, the " Sons of Liberty " called a Pro-
vincial Congress to meet on the 18th of January, 1775,
at Savannah. The power of Governor Wright, and of
the loyal party in Georgia, had been so successfully
exerted in preventing a general response to the invi-

108 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

tation extended by the patriots of Christ Church Par-
ish, that, upon the assembling of that Provincial Con-
gress, only five of the twelve parishes composing the
Colony were represented by delegates, and some of
them were so hampered by restrictions that their free-
dom of expression and action was materially impaired.
Chagrined at the inaction of the Province, the dele-
gates present essayed to accomplish through the Com-
mons House of Assembly, then in session, that which, of
themselves, they were not strong enough to perform.
In this, however, they were defeated by the action of
Governor Wright, who, by adjourning the Assembly,
thwarted the design of the Liberty party, and pre-
vented a nomination of delegates to the Continental
Congress, which, had it been made by the Assembly,
would have carried with it at least the apparent sanc-
tion of the entire Province. Nevertheless, the Pro-
vincial Congress, feeble as it was, did nominate Mr.
Houstoun, Archibald Bulloch, and Dr. Noble W. Jones
to represent Georgia in the Continental Congress.
Rightly judging, however, that an election by a minor-
ity of the parishes did not justify a claim on their
part to represent the entire Province, those gentlemen
did not attempt to take their seats in the Continental
Congress to which they had been thus accredited, but
contented themselves with addressing a carefully pre-
pared communication to the president of that body, in
which they suggested reasons in explanation of the
course adopted by them.

On the 21st of June, by a call over their own signa-
tures, Dr. Noble W. Jones, Archibald Bulloch, John
Houstoun, and George Walton, requested the inhabi-
tants of the town and district of Savannah to meet at

JOHN HOUSTOUN. 109

the Liberty Pole, at ten o'clock in the forenoon of the
following day, to select a committee to bring about
a union of Georgia with the other American Colonies.
At the appointed place and designated hour many
were present ; a Council of Safety was then chosen,
with instructions to maintain an active correspon-
dence with the Continental Congress, with Councils of
Safety in other Provinces, and with committees in
other Georgia parishes, with a view to the consumma-
tion of the proposed union. Similar meetings were
held in Georgia, all looking to an early affiliation with
the confederated sisterhood of American Colonies. As
a result of these combined efforts on the part of the
patriots, there assembled in Savannah on the 4th of
July, 1775, a Provincial Congress in which every
Georgia parish was fully and ably represented. In the
deliberations of this Congress, Mr. Houstoun — who
was present as a delegate from the town and district of
Savannah — actively participated. By the conclusions
then reached, Georgia was at length placed in full
communion and alliance with the twelve other Ameri-
can Colonies. Of the delegates then selected to repre-
sent this Province in the Continental Congress, Mr.
Houstoun was the first chosen. Responding to this
important trust, he journeyed to Philadelphia, and
there, with Messrs. Bulloch and Zubly, participated in
the deliberations of that body at a session convened in
September.

Mr. Houstoun was similarly complimented by the
Provincial Congress which assembled in Savannah in
January, 1776, and again by the Congress which con-
vened in the fall of that year. Of the Executive
Council, of which Benjamin Andrew was chosen presi-

110 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

dent, he was a member, when, on the 10th of Janu-
ary, 1778, he was elected Governor of Georgia. But
for the defection of Dr. Zubly, which necessitated Mr.
Houstoun's presence in Georgia at that perilous epoch,
his name would have been affixed to the Declaration
of Independence.

While Charlestown was still rejoicing over the de-
feat of the British fleet before the palmetto-covered
walls of the fort on Sullivan's Island, in company with
Jonathan Bryan and Colonel Lachlan Mcintosh, Mr.
Houstoun waited upon General Charles Lee, and, in
the name of the Council of Safety of Georgia, besought
his assistance in repelling the constantly occurring in-
cursions from Florida. After recounting the numerous
depredations committed on the southern and south-
western frontiers of Georgia by lawless bands swarm-
ing from Florida, and the desolation wrought along
the coast by privateers commissioned by Governor
Tonyn, the committee suggested a plan of operations
by which these banditti might be slain or dispersed,
and the town of St Augustine captured. Moved by
the representations of the committee, General Lee re-
solved upon an expedition for the relief of Georgia,
which, although subsequently inaugurated, was not
prosecuted to a successful conclusion.

When Mr. Houstoun was inducted into office as
Governor of Georgia, the southern frontier of the State
was intensely excited, and serious apprehensions were
entertained that the entire commonwealth would be
overrun and plundered by British, Tories, and Indi-
ans issuing from East Florida. At a meeting of the
Executive Council held on the 16th of April to con-
sider the attitude of affairs, both civil and military,

JOHN HOUSTOUN. Ill

an extraordinary political act was committed. It was
nothing less than investing the governor with almost
dictatorial powers. In a preamble and resolutions, that
council declared the situation in Georgia to be so truly
alarming that only the most spirited and vigorous
exertions could suffice to defeat the machinations of
the enemy ; and that " in such times of danger it
might happen that everything would depend upon in-
stantaneous measures being embraced, which could not
be done should the governor wait for calling a coun-
cil." Having then recorded their favorable opinion of
the constitutionality of the measure they proposed to
adopt, the members proceeded to sanction the follow-
ing unusual and dangerous policy : " The Council,
therefore, impressed with a sense of the calamitous
situation of this State, and apprehending it as an un-
avoidable expedient, do request that his Honor the
Governor will be pleased to take upon himself to act
in such manner as to him shall seem most eligible ;
and to exercise all the executive powers of govern-
ment appertaining to the militia, or the defense of the
State against the present danger which threatens it,
or in annoyance of the enemy, independent of the
Executive Council, and without calling, consulting, or
advising with them, unless when and where he shall
find it convenient and shall choose to do so. And
they pledge themselves to support and uphold him in
so doing, and to adopt as their own the measures
which he shall embrace ; and that this shall continue
during the present emergency, or until the honorable
House of Assembly shall make an order or give their
opinion to the contrary."

To this remarkable exhibition of personal confidence

112 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

Governor Houstoun replied : " He was exceedingly
unwilling to do any act without the approbation of the
Council ; but that as he found, by experience during
the present alarm, the impossibility of at all times get-
ting tfiem together when too much, perhaps, depended
upon a minute, and further that as the Council had
given it as their opinion that the proceeding was jus-
tifiable under the Constitution, and as the meeting of
the Assembly was so near at hand and alarms and
dangers seemed to thicken on all sides, he agreed to
act in the manner the Council requested, during the
present emergency, or until the honorable House of
Assembly should make an order or give their opinion
to the contrary ."

While such a delegation of authority may not have
been prohibited in terms by the Constitution of 1777,
it is very questionable whether the framers of that
instrument ever contemplated such a cession on the
part of the members of the Executive Council who
were constituted the special advisers and coadjutors of
the governor in the exercise of the executive powers
of government

The threatening aspect of affairs on the Southern
frontier, and the general alarm pervading the State,
caused this abnormal action on the part of the Execu-
tive Council.

East Florida, with its king's forces, Scovilites, out-
laws, and subsidized Indians, was a thorn in the side of
Georgia. St. Augustine, as the military hive whence
these predatory bands swarmed to the annoyance of
the dwellers between the Alatamaha and the St. Mary
rivers, was an object of constant disquietude and
hatred. Its destruction was a favorite scheme with the

JOHN HOUSTOUN. 113

Georgia authorities. What General Lee and Governor
Gwinnett had failed to accomplish, Governor Houstoun
was ambitious to achieve. Invested by the Executive
Council with powers little less than dictatorial, he de-
sired to inaugurate and conduct an expedition which
would render his administration famous, and minis-
ter to the security of the commonwealth over which
he presided. Strengthened by a recent accession of
Tories from the heart of South Carolina, the Floridians
were preparing for another and a formidable incursion
into Georgia. Of this fact Governor Houstoun was
informed, and his desire was not only to push back
this hostile column, but to follow up his advantage
even to the investment and occupation of St. Augus-
tine.

Upon a conference with General Robert Howe, who
was then in command of the Southern Department,
with his headquarters at Savannah, it was resolved to
concentrate the military strength of Georgia for repel-
ling the threatened attack, and for the subsequent in-
vasion of Florida. Of the militia of the State, Governor
Houstoun proposed to take and retain personal com-
mand. When summoned to the field, they did not
aggregate more than three hundred and fifty men,
many of whom were poorly armed and badly disci-
plined. The Continental forces within the limits of
the State numbered only about five hundred and fifty.
These were supplemented by two hundred and fifty
Continental infantry, and thirty artillerists with two
field -pieces, drawn from South Carolina, and com-
manded by Colonel Charles Cotesworth Pinckney.
The Carolina militia, under Colonels Bull and William-
son, were ordered to rendezvous at Purrysburg, on the

8

114 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

Savannah River. Port Howe, on the Alatamaha, was
designated as the place for concentration.

Upon the details of this expedition, including the
gallant capture of the Hinchinbrooke and the Rebecca
by Colonel Elbert ; the brave but fruitless attempt of
Colonel Clarke to dislodge the enemy from his fortified
position on Alligator Creek ; the tardy movements of
the militia; the suffering engendered by a malarial
region, intense heat, bad water, insufficient shelter,
deficient transportation, and unwholesome food; the
distractions consequent upon disagreements between
commanding officers, and the deplorable effects of a
lack of military discipline, we may not dwell. Re-
membering the powers conferred by his Executive
Council, Governor Houstoun, with his militia, refused
to receive orders from General Howe. Colonel Wil-
liamson's troops would not yield obedience to a Conti-
nental officer, and Commodore Bowen insisted that the
naval forces were entirely distinct from, and independ-
ent of, the land service. Thus was General Howe left
to rely only upon the Continental troops. Had a mas-
terly mind been present, quickly would these discord-
ant elements have been consolidated ; rapidly, by stern
orders and enforced discipline, would the army in all
its parts have been unified and brought into efficient
subjection. But there was no potent voice to evoke
order out of confusion, — no iron will to dominate over
the emergency. Discouraged by the perplexing de-
lays, appalled by the sickness of the troops, embar-
rassed by the want of cooperation among the com-
manders, the lack of stores, and the inefficiency of the
transportation department, and uncertain as to the
future, General Howe convened a council of war at

JOHN HOUSTOUN. 115

Fort Tonyn, on the 11th of July, which advised an
abandonment of the expedition so far as the Continen-
tal forces were concerned.

Left to themselves by the withdrawal of the Con-
tinental troops, Governor Houstoun and Colonel Wil-
liamson, with the Georgia and South Carolina militia,
at first contemplated an advance as far as the river
St John. This purpose, however, conceived in a spirit
of pride and vainglory, was speedily abandoned, and
the men under their command were led back by land
and dispersed to their respective homes.

The most that can be said in favor of this cam-
paign, with its lamentable lack of preparation, want of
management, disagreement between commanders, sur-
prising mistakes, inexcusable delays, vexatious disap-
pointments, and fruitless expenditures of men and mu-
nitions, is that it prevented for a season the advance
of the enemy from Florida. Whether this sufficiently
atoned for the waste of time, health, life, and treasure
may fairly be questioned.

In 1784 Mr. Houstoun was a second time elected
Governor of Georgia. It was during this administra-
tion that provision was made by the legislature for the
establishment of a State institution of learning, which
— at first as Franklin College, and subsequently as
the University of Georgia — has, for nearly a century,
moulded the higher education of the youths of this
commonwealth, and ministered to the civilization of
Georgia. The original cession of forty thousand acres
of the public lands for the foundation and support of
this school was made to Governor Houstoun, James
Habersham, William Few, Joseph Clay, Abraham Bald-
win, William Houstoun, and Nathan Brownson, in trust

116 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

for the purpose designated ; and Governor Houstoun
was first named in the list of trustees who, in 1785,
were empowered to put this educational scheme in
practical operation.

Much attention was now bestowed upon issuing war-
rants to such citizens as had rendered military service
during the late war, and in the orderly administration
of the Land Court.

In 1786 Mr. Houstoun was commissioned as Chief
Justice of Georgia, and in the following year he was
a member of the commission appointed by the State
to settle the boundary line between Georgia and South
Carolina. In the convention, which concluded its
labors at Beaufort, South Carolina, on the 28th of
April, 1787, Georgia was represented by Governor
Houstoun, Major John Habersham, and General Lach-
lan Mcintosh ; while, on the part of South Carolina,
General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, General An-
drew Pickens, and the Hon. Pierce Butler appeared
as commissioners. From the conclusions arrived at
by that commission Governor Houstoun dissented, and
his reasons for such dissent may be found in eztemo
in Marbury and Crawford's Digest, pp. 666 and 677.
Like everything which emanated from his pen, this
document is clear, forcible, and well expressed.

In 1789 he was voted for under the operation of
the Constitution just promulgated, but the choice for
Governor was accorded to the Hon. Edward Telfair.
The same year Mr. Houstoun was elected a justice for
Chatham County, and in the following year he was
complimented with the Mayoralty of Savannah. Upon
the occasion of President Washington's visit to that
city, in May, 1791, he was a member of the commit-

JOHN HOUSTOUN. 117

tee which welcomed and entertained the illustrious
guest.

While not busied with public affairs Governor Hous-
toun clave to his profession, of which he was an orna-
ment, and in the practice of which he always found
lucrative and honorable employment. No citizen en-
joyed a more enviable reputation, or commended him-
self more thoroughly to the confidence and the respect
of the community. Many important trusts were com-
mitted to his keeping. In their execution he was
uniformly faithful and competent. He died at his
suburban home at White Bluff, near Savannah, on the
20th of July, 1796. 1 Georgia perpetuates his name
and his memory by one of her largest and most fertile
counties.

1 Two days afterwards his will was admitted to probate. It remains of
file and of record in the Ordinary's Office of Chatham County, in Savan-
nah, Georgia.

WILLIAM HOUSTOUN.

The subject of this sketch — a son of Sir Patrick
Houstoun, and a brother of Governor John Houstoun —
is believed to have been born in Savannah, where his
life was spent. He was a lawyer by profession, having
been admitted in 1776 to the Inner Temple, London.
Returning home, he espoused the cause of the Revolu-
tionists, and was twice honored by selection as a Del-
egate to the Continental Congress. In 1787 he was
chosen as one of the deputies from Georgia to the
convention for revising the Federal Constitution. Al-
though he attended and participated in the delibera-
tions of that august body, his name does not appear
among the members who signed the Constitution then
formulated. Two years before, he had acted as one of
the agents named on the part of the State of Georgia
to settle the boundary between that commonwealth
and Carolina. With the final adjudication of the ques-
tion, however, he had no connection. His name appears
among the original trustees for the establishment of
the University of Georgia ; and to Lyman Hall, Gover-
nor John Houstoun, William Few, Joseph Clay, Abra-
ham Baldwin, William Houstoun, and Nathan Brownson
was the primal cession of forty thousand acres of land
made by the State of Georgia for the establishment and
endowment of that seminary of learning.

But little can be gleaned in regard to this member
from Georgia of the Continental Congress, but the tra-

WILLIAM HOUSTOUN. 119

dition lives that he was a thorough gentleman, an ac-
complished lawyer, and a citizen of high repute.

We are informed that his portrait, as well as that of
Governor Houstoun, with the family plate and many
papers of historical value, were unfortunately and acci-
dentally consumed by fire in Southwestern Georgia,
whither, during the late war between the States, they
had been conveyed in the hope of promoting their
safety.

RICHARD HOWLEY.

When first introduced to our acquaintance, this mem-
ber of the Continental Congress was a resident of St.
John's Parish, where he practiced law, supplementing
his professional labors by attention to a small rice plan-
tation. Upon the fall of Sunbury, in January, 1779,
and the occupation of Southern Georgia by the King's
forces, he removed to St. Paul's Parish, where, in affili-
ation with George Wells and others opposed to the
existing Executive Council, he called a convention,
which, at Augusta, resolved itself into a legislative
body, claimed to be the General Assembly of Georgia,
chose William Glascock Speaker, and proceeded to elect
George Walton Governor of the young and distracted
commonwealth.

On the 4th of January, 1780, Mr. Howley was
elected Governor of Georgia. Composed largely of the
friends of Walton and himself, the Assembly which
conferred this honor severely criticised the former
Council, and accused its members of "exercising powers
and authorities unknown to and subversive of the
Constitution and laws of this State." It even went so
far as to declare that "said Council and the powers
they exercised were illegal and unconstitutional."
Nevertheless, within a month this Assembly, which
had thus pronounced null and void the action of the
former Council, and denounced it as lawless in concep-
tion and operation, moved by the exigency of the

RICHARD HOWLEY. 121

period, and anticipating it might happen during the
progress of the war " that the Ministers of Government
of this State might not be able to do or transact the
business of the State within the limits of the same,"
unanimously resolved "that his Honor the Governor,
or, in his absence, the President and Executive Council,
might do and transact all and every business of govern-
ment in as full, ample, and authoritative manner in any
other State within the Confederation, touching and re-
specting of this State, as though it had been done and
transacted within the limits of this State." Fortunately,
in the judgment of Governor Howley, the occasion did
not arise for the exercise of this extraordinary and man-
ifestly unauthorized power.

Informed of the arrival of reinforcements to the
British troops in Savannah, — the ultimate destination
of which was not then well ascertained, — the Governor
issued a stirring proclamation, " commanding and requir-
ing the people to stand firm to their duty, and exert
themselves in support and defense of the great and
glorious independency of the United States ; and also
to remember with gratitude to Heaven that the Al-
mighty Ruler of human affairs hath been pleased to
raise up the spirit and might of the two greatest
powers in the world [France and Spain] to join with
them and oppose and destroy the persecutor of their
liberties and immunities."

General Lincoln was censured for withdrawing the
Continental troops from Georgia, and was pronounced
"answerable for all the consequences which might
follow that unadvised measure." Governor Howley
was instructed to concentrate half the militia of the
State at Augusta, and Colonel John Twiggs, with his

122 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

command and as many volunteers as he could secure,
was ordered to take post at that point.

Aware of the defenseless condition of this town,
" which might be surprised by twenty men," and deem-
ing it u unsafe and impolitic for the Governor and Coun-
cil to remain thus exposed," the Assembly designated
Heard's Fort, in Wilkes County, as a suitable "place of
meeting for transacting the business of the government
of this State as soon after leaving Augusta as may be."

Responding to this suggestion, the Governor and
Executive Council did, on the 5th of February, adjourn
to Heard's Fort, which thereupon became the tempo-
rary capital of the State. Brief was the gubernatorial
term of Governor Howley. He soon left Georgia to
take his seat in the Continental Congress; and the
Hon. George Wells — the President of Council — and
three members of the Board were announced as com-
petent for the transaction of all public business. Re-
publican Georgia at this time could practically claim
the full allegiance of only two counties, — Richmond
and Wilkes, — and its condition was indeed deplorable.
Driven from Savannah and the seaboard, compelled to
evacuate Augusta, hemmed in by hostile Indians on
the frontier, confronted by British Regulars and Tories,
harassed with alarms, surprised by ambuscades, and
pinched with want, the patriots were engaged in a
long and bitter struggle for simple existence, with
scarcely a ray of hope to light up the future.

So depreciated was the paper money of the State
that Governor Howley, in making his way to Congress,
in the language of Captain McCall, dealt it out by the
quire for a night's lodging for himself and party; u and
if the fare was anything extraordinary, the landlord
was compensated with two quires."

RICHARD HOWLEY. 123

At this darkest epoch, when English arms had gained
the ascendency not only in Georgia but also in South
Carolina, when the principal towns of those States were
in the possession of the enemy and the territory on both
sides of the Savannah River was largely subservient to
British rule, it was noised abroad that a new commis-
sion would soon issue from the Court of St James for
the purpose of again sounding the temper of America
upon the subject of a pacification. It was boldly hinted
that in any negotiations Georgia, and perhaps South
Carolina, would not be recognized as parts of the Amer-
ican Union, but that they would be excluded, on the
ground that they u had been again colonized to Eng-
land by new conquest" In Europe the uii possidetis
was much talked of as " a probable basis for the antici-
pated peace." Against this doctrine and its practical
application George Walton, William Few, and Richard
Howley — then representing Georgia in the Continen-
tal Congress — prepared and published a manly and
earnest protest, 1 which was not without its influence.

Upon the conclusion of peace Governor Howley
returned to his home in Liberty County, where he
resumed the practice of his profession. Prior to his
death, which occurred in Savannah, Georgia, in Decem-
ber, 1784, he had become a resident of that town.
His will — now of file in the Ordinary's Office of
Chatham County — bears date on the 6th of that
month, and was probated on the 4th of January, 1785.

1 Observations upon the Effects of Certain Late Political Suggestions by the
Delegates of Georgia, pp. 10. Philadelphia, mdcclxxxi.

NOBLE WYMBERLEY JONES.

This son of Colonel Noble Jones, a trusted friend
and early companion of Oglethorpe, — who, as military
officer, surveyor, registrar, member of the Royal Coun-
cil, and treasurer of the Province of Georgia, during a
long life proved himself a valuable and an influential
citizen, and never once wavered in his allegiance to the
Crown, — was born near London, England, in 1723.

Such was the respect and so great was the affection
entertained for him by his distinguished and devoted
son that, when first elected a member from Georgia of
the Continental Congress, Noble W. Jones, in deference
to the entreaties of his aged father, then sorely per-
plexed and trembling upon the verge of the grave, put
aside for the time being this important trust, that he
might, with filial love, minister to the infirmities and
soothe the last hours of his dying parent

Coming to Georgia at a tender age, he secured a
cadet's appointment in Oglethorpe's regiment. Having
in time studied medicine and received his degree, he
was promoted to a first lieutenancy, and, with the rank
and pay of surgeon, was assigned to a company of
Rangers in the pay of the Crown. After a few years
passed in military service, he resigned from the army,
and entered upon the practice of his profession in
Savannah. He rose rapidly in the public esteem, as
a citizen and as a physician winning golden opinions
from the community. No idle spectator of passing

NOBLE WYMBERLEY JONES. 125

events, or indifferent to political preferment, he was in
1768 elected Speaker of the Lower House of Assembly
of the Province of Georgia. By that body he was
placed upon a committee to correspond with Dr. Ben-
jamin Franklin — who had been appointed an agent
" to represent, solicit, and transact the affairs of the
Colony of Georgia in Great Britain" — and give such
instructions as might appear necessary for the public
welfare. Reelected to this position in 1770, so pro-
nounced and influential had become his views and con-
duct in opposition to the objectionable and oppressive
acts of Parliament and in support of American ideas
that Governor Wright, exercising the power vested in
him, refused to sanction this choice, and ordered the
House to select another Speaker.

Incensed at this affront offered to one who has been
aptly termed a morning star of liberty in Georgia, and
resenting what they deemed an unwarrantable interfer-
ence with the power resting solely with them to nomi-
nate and judge of the qualification of their own presid-
ing officer, the members of the House passed resolutions
complimentary to Dr. Jones, and declared "that the
sense and approbation this House entertain of his con-
duct can never be lessened by any slight cast upon him
in opposition to the unanimous voice of the Commons
House of Assembly in particular and the Province in
general." Criticising the action of the Executive, they
resolved "that this rejection by the Governor of a
Speaker unanimously elected was a high breach of
the privileges of the House, and tended to subvert the
most valuable rights and liberties of the people and
their representatives." This bold assertion the Council
was pleased to stigmatize as "a most indecent and

126 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

insolent denial of his Majesty's authority," and the
Governor, wielding the only punitive weapon at com-
mand, dissolved the Assembly on the 22d of February,
1770.

Adhering to the preference shown on a former occa-
sion, and resolved to rebuke the late interference on
the part of the Executive, at the first session of the
eighth General Assembly of the Province, convened at
Savannah on the 21st of April, 1772, the Commons
House perfected its organization by electing Dr. Jones
as its Speaker. Officially informed of this action, the
Hon. James Habersham, who during the absence of Sir
James Wright was occupying the gubernatorial chair,
responded : " I have his Majesty's commands to put a
negative upon the Speaker now elected by the Com-
mons House, which I accordingly do ; and desire that
you will inform the House that I direct them to pro-
ceed to a new choice of Speaker."

Despite this inhibition, and in direct opposition to
the injunction of the Executive, thrice did the House
adhere to its selection ; and it was only by dissolving
the Assembly that the Governor was able to carry his
point.

In a long letter to the Earl of Hillsborough, dated
the 30th of April, 1772, Governor Habersham dwells
upon the injurious effects of this dissolution of the As-
sembly, and yet demonstrates its necessity in' obedience
to existing instructions from the Crown. He also com-
ments freely upon the conduct of Dr. Jones and his
friends in " opposing the public business" under the
" specious pretence of Liberty and Privilege." "My
Lord," he continues, * it is very painful to me to say or
even to insinuate a disrespectful word of any one ; and

NOBLE WYMBERLEY JONES. 127

every person who knows me will acknowledge that it
is contrary to my disposition to dip my pen in gall, but
I cannot help considering Mr. Jones's conduct for some
time past in opposing Public Business as very ungrate-
ful and unworthy a good man, as his family have reaped
more advantages from Government than any I know in
this Province, He was several years First Lieutenant
and Surgeon of a company of Rangers paid by the
Crown, and in these capacities met with great indul-
gence. His father is the King's Treasurer, and, if I am
not mistaken, reaps very considerable emoluments from
it."

The truth is, while Governor Habersham was loyally
seeking to carry out the instructions of the King and
to support the authority of Parliament, Dr. Jones was
in active sympathy with those who esteemed taxation
without representation as wholly unauthorized, and who
were very jealous in the maintenance of what they
regarded as the reserved rights of the colonists and the
privileges of provincial legislatures. Both were true
men, but they viewed the situation from different
standpoints. An honored servant of the Crown, Mr.
Habersham was confronted with peculiar duties and
stringent oaths. Dr. Jones, on the contrary, as a rep-
resentative elected by the people, was free to give
expression to his own and the sentiments of his con-
stituents at an epoch when American liberty was being
freely discussed and proclaimed. Of each it may be
fairly said he was pure in purpose, wise in counsel, and
fearless in action; enjoying in a conspicuous degree
the esteem and the affection of the community. But
their political paths henceforward diverged. The one
clave to the Crown and shared its fortunes, while the

128 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

other cast his lot with the Revolutionists, and became
a favorite leader of the patriot band.

With Archibald Bulloch, John Houstoun, and John
Walton, he issued the public call on the 20th of July,

1774, which convened the citizens of Georgia at the
Watch House in Savannah. The resolutions then
adopted and the measures there inaugurated, gather-
ing potency and allegiance as they were discussed and
comprehended, proved effective in unifying public sen-
timent in support of the plans suggested by the Lib-
erty party, and paved the way for sundering the ties
which bound the Province to the British Empire. Of
the committees then raised to conduct the public af-
fairs of the Colony, and to minister to the relief of
the " suffering poor " of Boston, he was an active mem-
ber.

Noble Wymberley Jones, Archibald Bulloch, and John
Houstoun, elected delegates to the Continental Con-
gress by a convention of patriots assembled in Savan-
nah on the 8th of December, 1774, and again by the
Provincial Congress of January, 1775, — concluding
very properly that, inasmuch as they had been nomi-
nated by a political convocation which in reality em-
braced only four of the twelve parishes then constitut-
ing the Province of Georgia, they could not justly be
regarded as representatives of the entire Colony, and
yet persuaded that the will of those who commissioned
them should be formally made known and the mind of
Georgia be fairly interpreted, — on the 6th of April,

1775, addressed the following communication to the
President of the Continental Congress : —

" Sir, — The unworthy part which the Province of
Georgia has acted in the great and general contest

NOBLE WYMBERLEY JONES. 129

leaves room to expect little less than the censure or
even indignation of every virtuous man in America.
Although, on the one hand, we feel the justice of such
a consequence with respect to the Province in general,
yet, on the other, we claim an exemption from it in
favour of some individuals who wished a better conduct
Permit us, therefore, in behalf of ourselves and many
others, our fellow citizens, warmly attached to the
cause, to lay before the respectable body over which
you preside a few facts which, we trust, will not only
acquit us of supineness, but also render our conduct to
be approved by all candid and dispassionate men.

"At the time the late Congress did this Province
the honour to transmit to it an extract from their pro-
ceedings, enclosed in a friendly letter from the Honour-
able Mr. Middleton, the sense and disposition of the
people in general seemed to fluctuate between liberty
and convenience. In order to bring on a determina-
tion respecting the measures recommended, a few well-
affected persons in Savannah, by public advertisement
in the Gazette, requested a meeting of all the parishes
and districts, by delegates or representatives, in Pro-
vincial Congress. On the day appointed for this meet-
ing, with concern they found that only five out of
twelve parishes to which they had particularly wrote
had nominated and sent down delegates; and even
some of these five had laid their representatives under
injunctions as to the form of an association. Under
these circumstances those who met saw themselves
a good deal embarrassed. However, one expedient
seemed still to present itself. The House of Assembly
was then sitting, and it was hoped there would be no
doubt of a majority in favour of American freedom.
9

130 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

The plan, therefore, was to go through with what
business they could in Provincial Congress, and then,
with a short address, present the same to the House of
Assembly, who, it was hoped, would by votes in a few
minutes and before prerogative should interfere, make
it the act of the whole Province. Accordingly, the
Congress framed and agreed to such an association,
and did such other business as appeared practicable
with the people; and had the whole just ready to be
presented, when the Governor, either treacherously
informed or shrewdly suspecting the step, put an end
to the session. What then could the Congress do? On
the one hand, truth forbid them to call their proceedings
the voice of the Province, there being but five 1 out of
twelve parishes concerned ; and on the other, they
wanted strength sufficient to enforce them on the prin-
ciple of necessity, to which all ought for a time to sub-
mit. They found the inhabitants of Savannah not
likely soon to give matters a favourable turn. The
importers were mostly against any interruption, and
the consumers very much divided. There were some
of the latter virtuously for the measures ; others stren-
uously against thein ; but more who called themselves
neutrals than either. Thus situated, there appeared
nothing before us but the alternative of either immedi-
ately commencing a civil war among ourselves, or else
of patiently waiting for the measures to be recom-
mended by the General Congress.

"Among a powerful people, provided with men,
money, and conveniences, and by whose conduct
others were to be regulated, the former would cer-
tainly be the resolution that would suggest itself to

1 And one of these, St. Paul, practically withdrew.

NOBLE WYMBERLEY JONES. 131

every man removed from the condition of a coward ;
but in a small community like that of Savannah
(whose members are mostly in their first advance
towards wealth and independence, destitute of even
the necessaries of life within themselves, and from
whose junction or silence so little would be added or
lost to the general cause), the latter presented itself
as the most eligible plan, and was adopted by the
people. Party disputes and animosities have occasion-
ally prevailed, and show that the spirit of freedom is
not extinguished, but only restrained for a time till an
opportunity shall offer for calling it forth.

" The Congress convened at Savannah did us the
honour of choosing us delegates to meet your respec-
table body at Philadelphia on the tenth of next month.
We wtere sensible of the honour and weight of the
appointment, and would gladly have rendered our
country any service our poor abilities would have
admitted of; but, alas ! with what face could we have
appeared for a Province whose inhabitants had refused
to sacrifice the most trifling advantages to the public
cause, and in whose behalf we did not think we could
safely pledge ourselves for the execution of any one
measure whatsoever?

" We do not mean to insinuate that those who
appointed us would prove apostates or desert their
opinions, but that the tide of opposition was great ;
that all the strength and virtue of these our friends
might be sufficient for the purpose. We very early
saw the difficulties that would here occur, and there-
fore repeatedly and constantly requested the people to
proceed to the choice of other delegates in our stead ;
but this they refused to do. We beg, sir, you will

132 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

view our reasons for not attending in a liberal point of
light. Be pleased to make the most favourable repre-
sentation of them to the Honourable the Members of
the Congress. We believe we may take upon our-
selves to say, notwithstanding all that has passed,
there are still men in Georgia who, when an occasion
shall require, will be ready to evince a steady, reli-
gious, and manly attachment to the liberties of Amer-
ica. For the consolation of these, they find themselves
in the neighborhood of a Province whose virtue and
magnanimity must and will do lasting honour to the
cause, and in whose fate they seem disposed freely to
involve their own.

" We have the honour to be, sir, your most obedient
and very humble servants,

" Noble Wymberley Jones.

" Archibald Bulloch.

"John Houstoun."

The news of the affairs at Lexington and Concord
reached Savannah on the 10th of May, and caused the
wildest excitement. The thunders of the 19th of April
aroused the Georgia parishes from their lethargy, and
multiplied patriots within their borders.

The magazine at the eastern extremity of Savannah
— built of brick and sunk some twelve feet under
ground — contained a considerable amount of ammuni-
tion. So substantial was this structure, that Governor
Wright deemed it unnecessary to post a guard for its
protection. The excited Revolutionists all over the
land cried aloud for powder. Impressed with the
importance of securing the contents of this magazine,
quietly assembling at the residence of Dr. Jones, and

NOBLE WYMBERLET JONES. 133

there hastily arranging a plan of operations, Dr. Noble
W. Jones, Joseph Habersham, Edward Telfair, William
Gibbons, Joseph Clay, John Milledge, and some other
gentlemen, — most of them members of the Council of
Safety, and all zealous in the cause of American lib-
erty, — at a late hour on the night of the 11th of May,
1775, broke open the magazine and removed there-
from some six hundred pounds of powder, — a portion
of which was sent to Beaufort, South Carolina, for safe-
keeping, and the rest was concealed in the garrets and
cellars of the houses of the captors. Although Gov-
ernor Wright issued a proclamation offering a reward
of £150 sterling for the apprehension of the offenders,
it failed to elicit any information, although the actors
in the affair are said to have been well known in the
community. The popular heart was too deeply stirred,
and the " Sons of Liberty " were too potent to tolerate
any hindrance or annoyance at the hands of Royalist
informers. The tradition lives, and is generally cred-
ited, that some of the powder thus obtained was for-
warded to Cambridge, and was actually expended by
the patriots in the memorable battle of Bunker Hill.

On the 22d of June, 1775, in response to a call
signed by Dr. Jones, Archibald Bulloch, John Hous-
toun, and George Walton, many of the inhabitants of
the town and district of Savannah assembled at the
Liberty Pole in Savannah, and elected a Council of
Safety, with instructions to maintain an active corre-
spondence with the Continental Congress, and with
Councils of Safety both in Georgia and in other Prov-
inces, with a view to bringing about a union of Geor-
gia with her sister Colonies in the cause of freedom.

Of the Provincial Congress which assembled in Sa-

134 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

vannah on the 4th of July, 1775, Dr. Jones was a
member, accredited from the " Town and District of
Savannah."

In this Congress every parish was represented. Dr.
Jones was of the committee then selected to frame a
suitable address to the inhabitants of Georgia, advising
them of the true nature of the disputes existing be-
tween Great Britain and her American Colonies, and
informing them of the deliberations and conclusions of
the present Congress. He was also chosen, with John
Houstoun, Archibald Bulloch, Reverend Dr.Zubly, and
Dr. Lyman Hall, to represent Georgia in the Conti-
nental Congress. Georgia was now in acknowledged
sympathy with her sisters, and took her place, by
regular representation, in the National Assembly. Of
the Council of Safety which ordered the arrest of Gov-
ernor Wright, Dr. Jones was a member.

Late in 1776 the General Assembly of South Caro-
lina adopted a resolution to the effect that a union
between that State and Georgia would promote the
general strength, wealth, and dignity, and insure mu-
tual liberty, independence, and safety. Commission-
ers — of whom the Honorable William Henry Drayton
appears to have been the chairman, as he certainly
was the spokesman — were sent to Savannah to treat
of the matter, and to secure Georgia's acquiescence in
a project which, if carried into effect, would practically
have put an end to her political existence. The mem-
bers of the Council of Safety listened with patience
and courtesy to the arguments and persuasions of the
Carolina Commissioners, but rejected the proffered
union. President Gwinnett, Dr. Jones, and all the
leading republican spirits were radically opposed to

NOBLE WYMBERLET JONES. 135

the scheme on grounds both material and constitu-
tional ; and so the effort of South Carolina to swallow
up Georgia signally miscarried.

Upon the capture of Savannah in December, 1778,
Dr. Jones removed to Charles-Town, South Carolina.
There, upon the fall of that city in 1780, he was taken
prisoner by the British and sent in captivity to St. Au-
gustine, Florida. Exchanged in July, 1781, he went
to Philadelphia, and there entered upon the practice
of his profession. While a resident of that city, he
was, by the General Assembly of Georgia, reelected to
the Continental Congress.

Shortly after its evacuation by the King's forces in
the summer of 1782, Dr. Jones returned to Savannah,
repaired the desolations which war had wrought in his
comfortable home, and resumed his professional labors.
He was a member of the committee which received
and saluted President Washington with an address of
welcome upon the occasion of his visit to Savannah
in 1791. Over the Constitutional Convention which,
at Louisville, Jefferson County, in May, 1795, amended
the Constitution of Georgia, Dr. Noble Wymberley
Jones presided. In 1804 he was President of the
Georgia Medical Society. Preserving his intellectual
and physical powers in a wonderful degree, he died in
Savannah on the 9th of January, 1805, 1 honored by
the community as an accomplished gentleman, an
influential citizen, a skillful physician, and a sterling
patriot.

To the refined taste and liberality of his grandson,
the late George Wymberley Jones De Renne, M. D.,

1 His will was probated on the 19th of February, 1807, and remains of
file in the office of the Ordinary of Chatham County, in Savannah.

136 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

of Savannah, a gentleman of broad education (eAriched
by study, travel, and observation), of large wealth, ex-
quisite culture, and thoroughly imbued with a love for
Georgia and all her traditions, are we indebted, among
other literary legacies, for the series of Wormshe
Quartos, esteemed alike for their intrinsic value, ad-
mirable manufacture, and extreme rarity.

Since his death his widow — manifesting like gener-
ous interest in everything appertaining to the early
history of Georgia, and as a tribute to the memory of
her husband — has borne the charge of two other
beautiful and expensive Wormsloe Quartos, edited by
the writer, one entitled Acts passed by the General As-
sembly of the Colony of Georgia, 1755 &1774. Now first
printed. Wormsloe. MDCCCLXXXI ; and the other,
A Journal of the Transactions of the Trustees for estab-
lishing the Colony of Georgia in America, by the R' Hon bu
John, Earl of Egmont, Viscount Perceval of Cantur/c,
Baron Perceval of Burton, one of his Majesty's Most
Privy Council in the Kingdom of Ireland, and first Presi-
dent of the Board of Trustees of the Colony of Georgia.
Now first printed. Wormsloe. MDCCCLXXXVI. In
each case the edition was limited to forty-nine copies.

EDWARD LANGWORTHY.

This member of the Continental Congress was born
in Savannah, Georgia, of obscure parentage. Left an
orphan at a tender age, he was indebted for his main-
tenance and education to that charitable institution
founded and long supported by the Reverend George
Whitefield, and known as the Bethesda Orphan House.
At a subsequent period he became a teacher in that
school. His earliest public appearance, so far as we
can ascertain, was as one of the signers of a card
which was published in the Georgia Gazette, on the
7th of September, 1774, criticising certain patriotic
resolutions adopted at a convocation of citizens held
on the 10th of the preceding month, and protesting
against their being accepted as reflecting the senti-
ments of a majority of the inhabitants of Georgia. In
that card he appears as in full sympathy with the
Royalists in the Province. That his political views
underwent a sudden and violent change may be fairly
inferred from the fact that in the following year he
became the efficient Secretary of the Republican Coun-
cil of Safety. In 1777 he was elected a delegate from
Georgia to the Continental Congress. A similar honor
was conferred upon him during the following year,
when, with his confreres George Walton and Edward
Telfair, he signed the Articles of Confederation. He
at one time held the position of Justice of the Peace
for the County of Chatham.

138 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

Not very long after the conclusion of peace between
Great Britain and the United Colonies, he removed
from Savannah and located in Maryland. He there
formed the design of writing a history of Georgia. Of
fair attainments, and possessing a personal acquaint-
ance with many of the prominent persons and leading
events appertaining to Georgia during the latter half
of the eighteenth century, he was at least measurably
qualified for the task. He seems to have addressed
himself with energy to the collection of materials
requisite for the undertaking. It would appear, from
a prospectus printed in the Georgia Gazette, that the
history was actually written, and that the manuscript
was ready to be rendered into type. One of his letters
lies before us, dated at Elkton, Maryland, March 1,
1791, and addressed to Seaborn Jones, Esq., Augusta,
Georgia, in which Mr. Langworthy says : " Inclosed
you will receive a Subscription Paper for ' A Political
History of the State of Georgia,' &c, for which I must
request you to take in subscriptions, and I flatter
myself you will succeed therein, as the design is a
well-meant attempt to rescue the patriotic exertions of
our Countrymen from Oblivion and the Misrepresenta-
tion of some Writers of American History.

" What monies you will receive on this occasion you
will please to pay to Mr. James Johnston, Printer at
Savannah, whose receipt will be your discharge."

Suitable encouragement, however, not having been
obtained, the contemplated publication was never made.
Mr. Langworthy died at Elkton, Maryland, near the
close of the last century, and all efforts to recover
both his manuscript and the supporting documents
which he had amassed have thus far proved abortive.

LACHLAN M c INTOSH.

To the Continental Army Georgia furnished only
two officers who attained the rank of Brigadier-Gen-
eral They were Lachlan Mcintosh and Samuel El-
bert. Both were excellent soldiers, sterling patriots,
and influential citizens. Their services, alike in peace
and in war, were held in high repute. It is of the
former of them that we would speak.

Born near Raits, in Badenoch, Scotland, on the 17th
of March, 1725, when only eleven years of age he
accompanied his father, John More Mcintosh, to Geor-
gia. Commissioned by the Trustees for the establish-
ment of the Colony of Georgia in America, Lieutenant
Hugh MacKay, in 1735, accepted and enrolled at Inver-
ness one hundred and thirty Highlanders, with fifty
women and children. The men were of good charac-
ter, and were selected for their military qualities.
Many of them came from the Glen of Stralbdean,
and were commanded by officers most respectably con-
nected in the Highlands. John More Mcintosh was
the head of the Borlam branch of the clan Mcintosh.
Conveyed on board the Prince of Wales, Captain
George Dunbar, these sturdy immigrants set sail for
Georgia on the 18th of October, 1735, and entered
the mouth of the Savannah River early in the follow-
ing January. Shortly afterwards, accompanied by a
minister of their own selection, — the Reverend John
McLeod, a native of the Isle of Skye, — these High-

140 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

landers were transported in periaguas to the south-
ward. Ascending the Alatamaha River to a point on
the left bank of that stream about sixteen miles above
St. Simon's Island, they there landed, and formed a
permanent settlement which they named "New In-
verness." Here they erected a fort, mounted four
pieces of cannon, built a guard-house, a store, and a
chapel, and constructed dwellings for their accommo-
dation. These Scots were a brave, hardy race, — just
the men to occupy this advanced post and defend the
southern confines of the Colony. " In their plaids, and
with their broadswords, targets, and firearms, they
presented a most manly appearance/' Most valuable
was the military service rendered by these Highland-
ers during the wars between the Georgia colonists and
the Spaniards in Florida. John More Mcintosh was ap-
pointed by Oglethorpe commandant of New Inverness.
When, in 1740, General Oglethorpe invaded Florida
and attempted the reduction of St Augustine, he was
accompanied by Captain Mcintosh and his Highland-
ers. Unfortunately, although they " fought like lions,"
and u made such havoc with their broadswords as the
Spaniards cannot easily forget," they were surprised
and dispersed with great loss at Fort Moosa. Captain
Mcintosh was captured and sent as a prisoner to Spain,
where he was detained for several years. When re-
leased, he returned to Georgia enfeebled in constitu-
tion. He did not long survive the privations which
he had endured.

Lachlan Mcintosh, while still a lad, was enrolled by
General Oglethorpe as a cadet in his regiment. Amid
the distractions of the period, and remembering the
limited means then afforded for acquiring an education

LACHLAN McINTOSH. 141

in Georgia, as may be well imagined, the subject of
this sketch enjoyed but small opportunity for consec-
utive study and intellectual improvement. And yet
we are told that his mother was most earnest in im-
parting the rudiments of an English education ; and
that, under the patronage of General Oglethorpe,
young Mcintosh was instructed in mathematics, and
in other branches of knowledge deemed specially ne-
cessary for a military training.

At the age of seventeen he went to Charles-Town,
and was there so fortunate as to enlist the friendly
aid of the Honorable Henry Laurens, and to secure
employment in his counting room. So kind was that
gentleman to him, that during his residence in that
city he remained an inmate of his family. Association
with one so polite, refined, and accomplished, proved
of great benefit to young Mcintosh, and materially
conduced to his intellectual and social advancement
At this period of his life he is described as " exhibiting
a fine, manly appearance, and possessing a calm, firm
temper."

Seemingly wearied with commercial engagements,
when scarcely of age he took leave of his distinguished
friend and patron and returned to his home at New
Inverness, where he married, and adopted the calling
of a surveyor. There was ample field for employment,
and good opportunity for the selection of valuable
lands lying between the Alatamaha and the river St.
Mary. Of these chances Mcintosh availed himself,
quickly securing a comfortable livelihood, and acquir-
ing the promise of a considerable fortune. It was
while thus engaged that the subject of this sketch was
called upon to declare his sympathies in the discussion

142 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

which was daily becoming more violent between the
Rebel element in the Province and the adherents to
the Crown. Manifestly there was no hesitation on his
part in casting his lot with the Revolutionists.

Early in January, 1775, a District Congress was held
by the inhabitants of St. Andrew's Parish, at which a
series of manly resolutions — embodying the views of
a large number of the most influential citizens of the
Alatamaha settlements — was adopted with much en-
thusiasm. The first of these resolutions expressed the
unqualified approval by the members of that Congress
of " the unparalleled moderation, the decent but firm
and manly conduct of the loyal and brave people of
Boston and Massachusetts Bay " in their efforts to pre-
serve their liberties ; their acquiescence in and sanc-
tion of "all the resolutions of the Grand American
Congress ; " and their " cheerful accession to the asso-
ciation entered into by them as the wisest and most
moderate measure that could be adopted." The second
resolution, after condemning the closing of the land
offices to the great detriment of colonial growth and
the injury of the industrious poor, declared that every
"encouragement should be given to the indigent of
every nation by every generous American." The third
criticised severely ministerial mandates which prohib-
ited Colonial Assemblies from passing such laws as the
exigencies of their respective Provinces required. In
the fourth, the practice of making colonial officers de-
pendent upon Great Britain for the determination and
payment of their salaries, thus rendering them u inde-
pendent of the people who should support them ac-
cording to their usefulness and behaviour, ,, was heart-
ily condemned. By the fifth, the Parish declared its

lachlan Mcintosh. 143

" disapprobation and abhorrence of the unnatural prac-
tice of slavery in America," and its determination to
urge the manumission of our slaves in this Colony
upon the most safe and equitable footing for the mas-
ters and themselves/' The last resolution provided
for the election of delegates to represent the district
in a Provincial Congress, and instructed them to urge
the appointment of deputies from Georgia to the Con-
tinental Congress.

Appended to these resolutions, which among others
were signed by Lachlan Mcintosh, appeared the fol-
lowing Articles of Association : —

" Being persuaded that the salvation of the rights
and liberties of America depend, under God, on the
firm union of the inhabitants in the vigorous prosecu-
tion of the measures necessary for its safety, and con-
vinced of the necessity of preventing the anarchy and
confusion which attend the dissolution of the forces of
government, we, the freemen, freeholders, and inhabi-
tants of the Province of Georgia, being greatly alarmed
at the avowed design of the ministry to raise a reve-
nue in America, and shocked by the bloody scenes
now acting in the Massachusetts Bay, do in the most
solemn manner resolve never to become slaves; and
do associate under all the ties of religion, honor, and
love of country to adopt and endeavor to carry into
execution whatever may be recommended by the Con-
tinental Congress, or resolved upon by our Provincial
Convention that shall be appointed, for the purpose
of preserving our Constitution and opposing the exe-
cution of the several arbitrary and oppressive acts of
the British Parliament, until a reconciliation between
Great Britain and America on constitutional princi-

144 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

pies, which we most ardently desire, can be obtained ;
and that we will in all things follow the advice of our
General Committee, to be appointed, respecting the
purposes aforesaid, the preservation of peace and good
order, and the safety of individuals and private prop-
erty/'

It was in view of these and similar resolutions
adopted by other parishes in Georgia, that Sir James
Wright, in addressing the Earl of Dartmouth on the
13th of February, 1775, said : " Really, my Lord, a
great many People have worked themselves up to
such a pitch of political enthusiasm with respect to
their ideas of Liberty and the powers of the British
Parliament, and of their right to resist what they call
unconstitutional laws, that I do not expect they will
yet give up their pretensions."

In the important Provincial Congress which assem-
bled in Savannah on the 4th of July, 1775, Lachlan
Mcintosh sat as a delegate from the Parish of St
Andrew, and sympathized fully in the conclusions of
that body.

On the 7th of January, 1776, the battalion, which
the Continental Congress on the 4th of the previous
November ordered to be raised at the common charge
of the United Provinces for the protection of Georgia,
was organized by commissioning line officers for the
eight companies which composed it, and by appoint-
ing Lachlan Mcintosh as Colonel, Samuel Elbert as
Lieutenant-Colonel, and Joseph Habersham as Major.
From this time forward, and until American indepen-
dence was conceded by the mother country, Lachlan
Mcintosh remained in the military service of the Con-
federated Provinces.

LACHLAN MclNTOSH. 145

A question having arisen touching a possible con-
flict of authority between the Continental Congress
and the Georgia Provincial Congress, or Council of
Safety, in regard to the command of this battalion, —
the enlistment of which upon a Continental establish-
ment had been sanctioned and aided by the General
Congress, — the matter was set at rest by a written
declaration, signed by all the field and line officers of
that organization, pledging themselves as soldiers and
men of honor to obey all orders emanating from the
Congresses or Councils of Safety of Georgia, where the
same did not conflict with the " directions of the Gen-
eral Congress, or a committee thereof, or of any gen-
eral or other officer by them appointed."

In forwarding a copy of this document to General
George Washington, Commander-in-Chief of the Ameri-
can forces, Colonel Mcintosh, on the 16th of February,
1776, furnished an interesting account of the popula-
tion, resources, and dangers of the Province, requested
general instructions as to the conduct of military
affairs within the limits of the Colony, and asked to be
informed how far his command was under the orders
of the Provincial Congress, and what rank he and his
officers should hold when acting with the militia.

In March, 1776, when Majors Maitland and Grant
attempted the capture of the rice-laden vessels lying
in the river opposite Savannah, Colonel Mcintosh with
three hundred men proceeded to Yamacraw Bluff,
where he hastily threw up a breastwork and posted
three four-pounder guns bearing upon the shipping.
From this battery, for four hours he fired upon the
enemy. Galled by canister and solid shot, supple-
mented by rifle balls from sharpshooters and by vessels

10

146 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

ignited and turned adrift in the river, the British
troops abandoned their attempt and resumed their sta-
tion in Tybee Roads. This was' the first passage-at-
arms within the limits of Georgia between the " Sons
of Liberty " and the King's soldiers. The Rubicon had
been passed. Blood had been shed, and resistance to
the death offered on the part of Georgians to English
dominion. The patriotism displayed by the citizens of
Savannah, and the manhood exhibited on this occasion
in defense of their homes and property, merit high
commendation. Apprehending another and a more
serious demonstration, Colonel Mcintosh detained his
battalion in Savannah ready for action. Complying
with a custom which had obtained when Georgia was
ruled by -Royal governors, Colonel Mcintosh, when the
Honorable Archibald Bulloch was elected President
and Commander-in-Chief of Georgia, posted a sentinel
at the door of his residence. To this his Excellency
objected, with the remark, "I act for a free people
in whom I have the most entire confidence, and I wish
to avoid on all occasions the appearance of ostenta-
tion."

When, on the 10th of August, the Declaration of
Independence was promulgated in Savannah by Presi-
dent Bulloch, Colonel Mcintosh commanded the pro-
cession and fired the salutes.

Responding to the request of General Charles Lee,
Jonathan Bryan, John Houstoun, and Colonel Mcin-
tosh — representing the Council of Safety of Georgia
— waited upon that officer (then in command of the
Southern Department) at Charlestown, and suggested
a plan of operations by which it was hoped annoying
banditti from Florida might be slain or dispersed, and

lachlan Mcintosh. 147

the town of St. Augustine captured. Moved by the
representations of this committee, and anxious to put
a stop to the depredations upon the southern frontier
of Georgia, General Lee resolved upon an expedition
for the reduction of East Florida. In the movement
then inaugurated Colonel Mcintosh and his command
participated, but it was not pressed beyond Sunbury.
Want of preparation, the absence of necessary stores
and transportation, and the recall of General Lee
converted the whole affair into a miserable fiasco.
Thereupon Colonel Mcintosh, taking counsel of him-
self, made the best possible disposition of his command
along the southern frontier of Georgia for its protec-
tion. Various skirmishes occurred in this direction,
and the Province was kept in a state of constant
alarm.

The General Assembly of Georgia resolved to add
three battalions of infantry and a squadron of dragoons
to the troops serving on the Continental establishment,
to form them into a brigade, and to promote Colonel
Mcintosh to the rank of Brigadier-General and assign
him to their command. Button Gwinnett had been a
candidate for this position, and he was much embit-
tered by Mcintosh's success. When by the Council of
Safety Mr. Gwinnett was elected President and Com-
mauder-in-Chief of Georgia until such time as a gov-
ernor could be appointed under the provisions of the
Constitution recently adopted, that gentleman, quick
in action, brave and ambitious, sought to signalize his
administration by an expedition against Florida. The
expectation of retaliation was pleasing to the public ;
and President Gwinnett hoped, by a quick descent, to
take the Floridians unawares and win an easy victory.

148 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

Intent upon mortifying Mcintosh, who, as the ranking
military officer of Georgia, was entitled to command
the troops detailed for the movement, he set him aside,
assigned subordinates to special columns, and deter-
mined himself to assume personal conduct and con-
trol of the expedition. This of course widened the
breach between those gentlemen. As the story of this
ill-timed and disastrous expedition has already been
fully told in the sketch of Button Gwinnett, we refrain
from repeating it in this connection.

In the political contest which occurred between
Button Gwinnett and John Adam Treutlen, during the
session of the Legislature in May, 1777, for the gu-
bernatorial chair, the latter was successful. Treutlen's
cause had been warmly espoused by Mcintosh, who
was open and violent in his denunciations of Gwinnett.
The quarrel between these quick-tempered and brave
men culminated in a duel, fought on the morning of
the 16th of May, 1777, within the present limits of
the city of Savannah. The weapons used were pistols,
and the principals were posted at the short distance
of only four paces. At the first discharge both were
struck. Gwinnett's thigh was shattered, and he sank
upon the ground. When. asked if he desired to ex-
change another shot, he responded, " Yes, if I should
be helped up." The seconds, however, intervened, and
Gwinnett was borne from the field. The weather was
very hot. Mortification quickly ensued, and Gwinnett
expired on the fourth day after receiving his mortal
hurt. Mcintosh was confined to his couch for some
time. Gwinnett's death created much excitement
Dr. Lyman Hall — a warm personal friend of the de-
ceased, and one of his executors — and other promi-

LACHLAN McINTOSH. 149

nent gentlemen brought the matter to the notice of
the Legislature, and accused the officers of the law of a
neglect of duty in not arresting Mcintosh and binding
him over to answer to a charge of murder. Informed
of what was transpiring, the General, as soon as his
wound would permit, surrendered himself to Judge
Glen, entered into bond for his appearance, was in-
dicted, tried, and acquitted. Even this determination
of the matter did not allay the animosity of Gwin-
nett's friends, who, angered at the death of their
leader, endeavored to impair the influence of Mcin-
tosh, and to fetter his usefulness in the public service.
Moved by the circumstances, invoking the interven-
tion of his friend, the Honorable Henry Laurens, and
finally securing an order 1 from the Continental Con-
gress, General Mcintosh — surrendering his command
in Georgia, and taking with him as his deputy adju-
tant-general his son, Captain Lachlan Mcintosh, and
as his brigade major his young friend, Captain John
Berrien — reported at Washington's headquarters for
assignment to another field of duty. For some time
he was placed in advance of the central army, and was
actively engaged in watching the movements of Gen-
eral Howe's forces, then concentrated in Philadelphia.
Subsequently he was entrusted with the command of
the western districts of Virginia and Pennsylvania. So
soon as measures had been fully concerted between
Count D'Estaing and General Benjamin Lincoln for
the repossession of Savannah and Southern Georgia,
then held by the British troops under General Pre-
vost, anxious to participate in this important move-
ment, General Mcintosh, who had then completed his

1 Dated August 1, 1777.

150 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

arrangements for an attack upon Detroit, applied for
permission to return to Georgia. Sympathizing in the
propriety of this wish on the part of his lieutenant,
General Washington signified his approval, and gave
to General Mcintosh a letter addressed to the Conti-
nental Congress, in which, under date of May 11, 1779,
he says : " Brigadier-General Mcintosh will have the
honor of delivering you this. The war in Georgia,
being the State to which he belongs, makes him desir-
ous of serving in the Southern army. I know not
whether the arrangements Congress have in contem-
plation may make it convenient to employ him there :
but I take the liberty to recommend him as a gentle-
man whose knowledge of service and of the country
promises to make him useful. I beg leave to add,
that General Mcintosh's conduct, while he acted im-
mediately under my observation, was such as to acquire
my esteem and confidence, and I have had no reason
since to alter my good opinion of him."

His application being sanctioned by the Continental
Congress, General Mcintosh proceeded to Charlestown,
where he reported to General Benjamin Lincoln, then
in command of the Southern Department By that
officer he was assigned to the command of the Conti-
nental forces in Georgia, and his headquarters were,
for the time being, established at Augusta. It was
from this point, in association with Count Pulaski, that
General Mcintosh, early in September, 1779, moved
upon Savannah, reaching its vicinity in advance of the
army under General Lincoln, occupying a position
between that town and Great Ogeechee Ferry, and
there awaiting the concentration of the allied troops.
It lies not within the compass of this sketch to recount

lachlan Mcintosh. 151

the incidents connected with the siege of Savannah. 1
Suffice it to say that General Mcintosh, as second in
command of the American forces, actively participated
in the siege, and led one of the columns of assault on
the Spring Hill redoubt, on the bloody and disastrous
morning of the 9th of October, 1779. In the conduct
of all operations committed to his guidance he exhib-
ited a courage and an ability worthy of every com-
mendation. His position was peculiarly trying, for
his wife and family were within the city lines, and
were for weeks exposed to the fury of the fire of the
investing batteries.

When the siege was raised, the French troops —
betaking themselves to their fleet — departed; and
the American forces under General Lincoln retreated
upon Charlestown, where, after a protracted and gal-
lant defense, they were compelled to surrender to
General Clinton. Among the general officers captured
on that occasion was Brigadier-General Lachlan Mcin-
tosh. When released, he retired with his family to
Virginia; from that time forward, and until the suc-
cessful termination of the war, participating but little
in military affairs. His companions in arms, when they
were made acquainted with his purpose to establish
his temporary home in Virginia, united in a compli-
mentary communication to Governor Jefferson, com-
mending General Mcintosh to the particular notice of
that State, and requesting in his behalf such allowance
of lands and other emoluments as were given for the
encouragement and reward of efficient officers belong-
ing to the Virginia line.

1 For a full account, see Jones's History of Georgia, vol. ii. pp. 375-416.
Boston : Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 1883.

152 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

Upon his return to Georgia in 1779, after an ab-
sence of some two years, General Mcintosh hoped that
time had healed all wounds, and that he would be per-
mitted, without jealousy or opposition, to devote his
time and energies to the defense of his home and
people. In this pleasing anticipation he was disap-
pointed. On the 30th of November, 1779, a letter,
purporting to be signed by William Glascock, Speaker
of the House of Representatives, was transmitted by
George Walton, then Governor of Georgia, to the
President of the Continental Congress, assuring that
body of the dissatisfaction experienced by the people
of Georgia at the assignment of General Mcintosh to
the command of the military in that State, and ear-
nestly suggesting that " some distant field for the exer-
cise of his abilities " should be selected. So thoroughly
did this communication, supported by the representa-
tions of General Mcintosh's enemies, poison the minds
of the members of the Continental Congress that they
resolved, on the 15th of February, 1780, to u dispense
with the services of Brigadier-General Mcintosh until
the further order of Congress."

Upon inquiry, this letter proved to be an utter for-
gery ; and, after a review of the whole affair, the Le-
gislature of Georgia " resolved that General Mcintosh
be informed that this House does entertain an abhor-
rence of all such injurious attempts made use of, as
appears by the papers laid before them, to injure the
character of an officer and citizen of this State who
merits the attention of the Legislature for his early,
decided, and persevering efforts in the defense of
America ; of which virtue this House has the highest
sense."

LACHLAN MclNTOSH. 153

Upon the evacuation of Savannah by General Ala-
red Clarke and the King's forces in the summer of
1782, General Mcintosh returned with his family to
Georgia, and, from that time until his death on the
20th of February, 1806, continued to reside in that
town and its vicinity. In 1784 he was complimented
with a seat in the Continental Congress. Of the im-
portant commission charged with the settlement of the
boundary between Georgia and South Carolina he was
a member. He also represented Georgia in the accom-
modation of disputes with the Creek and Cherokee
nations.

With the exception of these occasional and limited
public employments, General Mcintosh passed the re-
mainder of his days in retirement Although small his
fortune, he was rich in the esteem, the friendship, and
the gratitude of his fellow-citizens.

He was for years the President of the Georgia
Branch of the Society of the Cincinnati. Upon the
occasion of President Washington's visit to Savannah
in May, 1791, he was attended by General Mcintosh
when he inspected the lines constructed by the British
in 1779 for the defense of Savannah, and the ap-
proaches and batteries then made by the Allied Army.
Having himself participated in the siege and in the
assault of the 9th of October, General Mcintosh was
able to convey to the President full information touch-
ing the whole affair. The earth mounds covering the
slain, the lines of circumvallation, the sand parapets
and gun chambers, had not then yielded to the influ-
ences of time and an encroaching population. The
scars of the siege were still upon the bosom of the
plain, and some of the houses within the limits of the

154 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

city bore the marks of the lethal missiles which were
then hurled. About him stood those who had passed
through that baptism of fire. The President exhib-
ited a deep interest in everything he then saw and
heard.

The writer of the memoir which appears in the third
volume of " The National Portrait Gallery of Distin-
guished Americans" describes General Mcintosh as
being five feet eleven inches tall, u of athletic form and
great activity." While a lad at New Inverness, there
was not an Indian in the neighborhood who could
compete with him in fleetness of foot; and when
twenty-five years of age, a friend spoke of him as
" the handsomest man he had ever seen." A county
in Southern Georgia perpetuates the name of the
Mcintosh family, which, since its settlement upon the
Alatamaha, has in four wars given brave and distin-
guished members to the military service of colony,
commonwealth, and nation. 1

1 General Mcintosh's will was probated in Chatham County, Georgia,
on the 5th of May, 1806, and is now of file in the Ordinary's Office in Sa-
vannah.

WILLIAM PIERCE.

It is claimed by respectable authority that this gen-
tleman was born in Georgia about 1740. Of his early
life we find no mention beyond the fact that his educa-
tion was liberal, and that his pursuits were mercantile
in their character. His first distinction was won in
arms as an aide-de-camp to General Nathanael Greene,
whose friendship and confidence he appears to have
enjoyed to the fullest extent. For his meritorious
conduct at the battle of Eutaws he was complimented
by the American Congress and presented with a sword.
In the Continental service he rose to the grade of
major.

Upon the conclusion of the war of the Revolution
Major Pierce resumed his residence in Savannah, where
he became the head of the mercantile house of William
Pierce & Co. Chancing upon misfortune, that firm
went into liquidation in 1788. During the years 1786
and 1787 he was a Delegate from Georgia to the Con-
tinental Congress. He had previously represented the
County of Chatham in the State Legislature.

On the 10th of February, 1787, in association with
William Few, Abram Baldwin, George Walton, William
Houstoun, and Nathaniel Pendleton, he was appointed
a deputy from Georgia to the Philadelphia Convention
called for the purpose of revising the Federal Constitu-
tion. He took his seat in that Convention on the 31st
of May, and participated in the deliberations. He was

156 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

not present when the Constitution finally formulated
was signed. His impressions of the labors and conclu-
sions of the Convention are given in extenso in a well-
considered and very interesting letter, dated in New
York city on the 28th of September, 1787, and ad-
dressed by him to St. George Tucker, Esquire. The full
text of this important communication may be found in
the Georgia Gazette of March 20, 1788.

That letter inclosed to Mr. Tucker a copy of the
Constitution. " You will," writes Major Pierce, " prob-
ably be surprised at not finding my name affixed to
it ; and will no doubt be desirous of having a reason
for it Know then, Sir, that I was absent in New York
on a piece of business so necessary that it became un-
avoidable. I approve of its principles, and would have
signed it with all my heart had I been present To
say, however, that I consider it as perfect would be to
make an acknowledgment immediately opposed to my
judgment Perhaps it is the only one which will suit
our present situation. The wisdom of the Convention
was equal to something greater ; but a variety of local
circumstances, the inequality of States, and the disso-
nant interests of the different parts of the Union made
it impossible to give it any other shape or form."

The writer then passes the salient features of the
Constitution in a review worthy of careful considera-
tion, which we would gladly here reproduce did the
limits of this sketch permit. He was an earnest advo-
cate of an election by the people of the members of
the House of Representatives, and by the States of the
Senators, whose terms of service he preferred to limit
to three years.

Major Pierce died in the city of Savannah, Georgia,

WILLIAM PIERCE. 157

on the 10th of December, 1789, and the following
tribute to his memory is reproduced from the contem-
porary columns of the Georgia Gazette : —

" To speak of the dead is no uncommon thing : how-
ever, a friend cannot refrain from paying the last trib-
ute to the manes of Major WILLIAM PIERCE, who
died last Thursday week [December 10, 1789] uni-
versally regretted. He, at an early period of the con-
test between America and Great Britain, took a decided
part in favour of his country, which he loved to his last
moments: for we may say when the hand of Death was
over him he was a candidate to become its servant
He was particularly noticed tyy that gallant officer Gen.
Greene, who honoured him with his frie?idship and most
secret confidence. Congress in respect to his services
at the battle of the Eutaws made him a compliment of
an elegant Sword as a token of their approbation of
his conduct. He had the honour to represent Chat-
ham County in the General Assembly ; and was sent
as a Delegate from this State to Congress at a time
when deliberation and great judgment were necessary ;
which duties he discharged to the satisfaction of his
Country.

"Though born with a delicate constitution, he had till
lately enjoyed a firm, uninterrupted state of health,
which however was, from the fatigues of the war,
diversities of climes and elements, at length under-
mined and destroyed : His manners polite and obliging,
his reasonings precise, his diction l perspicuous and elo-
quent : His love of truth was not tainted by the desire
of popularity, nor his modesty impaired by the favours
of those in power ; for he was of no party, but the gen-

1 See his oration delivered on the 4th July.

158 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

eral good of his country ; His way of thinking had pre-
served him from the pursuits of selfishness and sordid
intrigues : his character appeared worthy of the favours
of Fortune ; but alas ! he stood the hardest tests of mis-
fortune : a sincere, and occasionally an active friend ;
always an agreeable companion. The Society of the
Cincinnati honoured him as their Vice President, and by
whom he was attended as mourners to the tomb. An
affectionate and endearing husband, a kind master, and
all that was worth possessing in a domestick situation.
He supported a lingering disease, and beheld the slow
approaches of Death with philosophical calmness and
serenity; and I am told by a friend who visited him at
that solemn period, when he took leave of his wife and
friends his soul seemed, as it were, already received in
the blissful mansions of the blessed — to make use of
his own words, which were the last he uttered, ' Fare-
well ! farewell all ! Now dies the happy man.' " *

Upon the 4th of July, 1789, when the anniversary of
American Independence was celebrated by the Georgia
Society of the Cincinnati, at Hamilton's Long Room in
Savannah, and the oration was pronounced by Major
Pierce, the following officers were elected: —

Major-General Anthony Wayne, President

Major William Pierce, Vice-President

Major John Habersham, Secretary.

CJolonel Richard Wylly, Treasurer.

John Peter Ward, Esqr., Assistant Secretary.

Edward Lloyd, Esqr., Assistant Treasurer.
At the "elegant dinner" which crowned a day of
" great harmony and conviviality " the following toasts
were drank : —

1 The Georgia Gazette [No. 861], Thursday, December 24, 1789.

WILLIAM PIERCE. 159

"1. The President-General of the Society and of the
Union.

2. The respective State Societies.

3. Prosperity and Happiness to our dear Country.

4. The People.

5. Agriculture and Commerce.

6. The Legislature of the Union; — wisdom, una-
nimity, and a happy operation to their measures.

7. Peace and Harmony.

8. The King of France, and the Officers of his Army
who assisted in establishing the American Independence.

9. The Governor and State of Georgia.

10. The Memory of our departed Brethren.

11. The Republicks of the World, where law and not
the will of despots rules.

12. May Policy dictate a just Reward for Publick
Service.

13. May North Carolina and Rhode Island by a
speedy Adoption of the Federal Constitution complete
the Number of the Thirteen United States."

SAMUEL STIRK.

Mr. Stirk is believed to have been a native of Savan-
nah, Georgia. He there resided and was a practitioner
of law when he first attracted public notice.

Of the Executive Council chosen in 1777 — when
John Adam Treutlen, defeating Button Gwinnett, was
elected first Republican Governor of Georgia — Benja-
min Andrew was complimented with the Presidency,
and Samuel Stirk was appointed Clerk.

By the Assembly convened in Augusta he was, on
the 16th of August, 1781, elected a Delegate from
Georgia to the Continental Congress. By the same
Legislature he was honored with the position of Attor-
ney-General of Georgia, and to this office he was re-
elected in January, 1783. Simultaneously with this
latter appointment, he was named as a Commissioner
on the part of the State to negotiate with Governor
Patrick Tonyn, of East Florida, for the accommodation
of all differences and the prevention of further disturb-
ances along the line of the river St. Mary.

Among the Justices of Chatham County his name
appears in 1786, and also in 1789. During the last-
mentioned year he was President of the Board of War-
dens of Savannah.

In 1778 and 1779 he was in the military service of
the State and Confederation; and, with the rank of
Lieutenant-Colonel, participated in the ill-starred expe-
dition launched by President Gwinnett against East
Florida.

EDWARD TELFAIR.

This gentleman, distinguished alike for his attractive
social qualities, admirable business methods, integrity,
financial ability, and statesmanlike conduct, was a na-
tive of Scotland. He was born in 1735 on the farm
of Town Head, the ancestral estate of the Telfairs,
which has since passed into the ownership of the Earl
of Selkirk. Having received his English education at
the grammar school of Kirkcudbright, he subsequently
applied himself to the acquisition of a thorough com-
mercial training, and at the age of twenty-three com-
ing to America as the representative of a business
house, resided for some time in Virginia. He after-
wards removed to Halifax, North Carolina, and subse-
quently, in 1766, settled in Savannah, Georgia. 1 By
energy, thrift, fair dealing, and enterprise, he soon es-
tablished a lucrative business in what was then the
commercial metropolis of the Province. Deeply im-
mersed in trade was he when the disagreements be-
tween the American Colonies and the mother country
began to assume decided and alarming proportions.
That he did not long hesitate in choosing sides upon
the momentous questions which then agitated the pub-
lic mind may be fairly inferred, because, as early as the

1 See Johnson's Traditions and Reminiscences, chiefly of the Revolution
in the South, p. 200. Charleston, S. G, 1851.
ii

162 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

27th of July, 1774/we find him a member of two com-
mittees raised by the Republican party in Georgia, —
one to assure the other American Colonies of the rebel
sentiments of the Province, and of its determination to
share the common lot in the effort to win independence
from British rule ; and the other to solicit and forward
supplies for the relief of the suffering patriots in
Boston.

As a Delegate elected by the liberty-seeking citizens
of Savannah on the 8th of December in the same year,
he participated in the deliberations of the Provincial
Congress which assembled on the 18th of the following
January.

In association with Dr. Noble W. Jones, Joseph Ha-
bersham, and others, — most of them members of the
Council of Safety and all zealous in the cause of Amer-
ican freedom, — he personally assisted in breaking open
the public magazine in Savannah, and in removing
therefrom a goodly quantity of the King's powder
with which to supply the urgent needs of the Revolu-
tionists.

On the 21st of June, 1775, he was elected a member
of the Council of Safety ; and, in the Provincial Con-
gress which assembled in Savannah on the 4th of the
following July, he appeared and took his seat as a Dele-
gate from the "Town and District of Savannah." He
was of the committee then selected to frame an address
to his Excellency Governor Wright; was placed upon
the " Committee of Intelligence ; " and was constituted
a member of another committee to present to the in-
habitants of the town and district of Savannah the
" Article of Association " adopted by the Congress.
Before adjourning, this body, on the 11th of December,

EDWARD TELFAIR. 163

elected a new Council of Safety, and Mr. Telfair was
named as one of its members.

Early in 1778 he was chosen a Delegate from Geor-
gia to the Continental Congress. In the following
July, together with George Walton and Edward Lang-
worthy, he affixed his signature to the "Articles of
Confederation." One leave of absence excepted, he
remained a member of the Continental Congress until
January, 1783. In May, 1785, he was complimented
by another election to the old Congress, but it is be-
lieved that he did not resume his seat in obedience to
this summons. While in Congress his services were
specially valuable in the domain of finances. On the
15th of February, 1783, he was designated as an agent
on the part of Georgia to settle the northern boundary
of the Commonwealth. He also represented the State
in consummating, at Augusta, during the same year,
important treaties with the Cherokee and Creek In-
dians.

Three years afterwards he was honored with the
Chief Magistracy of Georgia. His conduct in the dis-
charge of this exalted trust was characterized by wis-
dom, dignity, and firmness. It required no little skill
and discretion to avoid a threatened war with the
Cherokees. In compelling the removal of the public
records from Savannah to the seat of government, he
encountered not only the protest but also the active
opposition of many prominent parties. The measures,
however, which he adopted to compass this proper
transfer were so prompt and decisive that both the
dignity of the Commonwealth and the majesty of the
law were maintained. Much of his time and thought
was bestowed upon the public finances, and in devis-

164 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

ing the best scheme for liberating Georgia from the
annoying indebtedness which then oppressed her. It
was during his administration that Georgia was called
upon to mourn the demise of her adopted son, who,
next to Washington, challenged the public confidence
and esteem, — the great and good General Nathanael
Greene. In obedience to his orders, reckless bands of
runaway slaves, who, defying the laws, with arms in
their hands, were plundering the plantations on the
Lower Savannah, were thoroughly dispersed by the
militia.

He was a member of the convention which ratified
the Constitution of the United States.

On the 9th of November, 1789, Mr. Telfair was
again called to the gubernatorial chair. He was the
first chief magistrate elected and qualified under the
new Constitution. It was his pleasure and privilege to
welcome to his home in Augusta, which was then the
capital of the State, President Washington, in May,
1791, and to extend every honor and courtesy which
place and circumstance could contribute. On the de-
parture of the General, he addressed to Governor Tel-
fair the following courteous communication : —

" Augusta, 20th May, 1791.

" To his Excellency Edward Telfair,

Governor of Georgia :
"Sir, — Obeying the impulse of a heartfelt gratitude,
I express with particular pleasure my sense of obliga-
tions which your Excellency's goodness and the kind
regard of your citizens have conferred upon me. I
shall always retain a most pleasing remembrance of
the polite and hospitable attentions which I have re-

EDWARD TELFAIR. 165

ceived in my tour through the State of Georgia, and
during my stay at the residence of your government.

" The manner in which you are pleased to recognize
my public services, and to regard my private felicity,
excites my sensibility and claims my grateful acknow-
ledgments. Your Excellency will do justice to the sen-
timents which influence my wishes by believing that
they are sincerely offered for your personal happiness
and the prosperity of the State over which you pre-
side.

"George Washington."

The hospitality extended by Governor Telfair, on
this occasion, to his distinguished guest at his home
on the outskirts of Augusta, called The Grove, was
generous and refined to the last degree.

Without specifying the particular duties which
claimed Governor Telfair's attention as the chief ma-
gistrate of Georgia, it may be stated that to the per-
formance of his public duties he brought broad experi-
ence, business capacity of a high order, a singleness of
purpose, and a devotion to duty which made his ad-
ministration of the affairs of state prompt, direct, and
effective.

Upon the expiration of his gubernatorial labors he
returned to his home in Savannah, where the last years
of his life were given to the careful conduct of his
extensive private business, to dispensing hospitality,
and to participating in, and presiding over, convoca-
tions of his fellow-citizens on important occasions.

In this city he died on the 19th of September, 1807,
and was buried with every honor which public esteem
and private friendship could extend.

166 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

Among the members from Georgia of the Continental
Congress Governor Telfair was perhaps possessed of the
greatest wealth. Although during the war of the Rev-
olution he encountered considerable mutation in for-
tune, and at one time with his family sought refuge in
Predericktown, Maryland, upon the return of peace he
quickly recovered his losses and added largely to his
former possessions.

Considering the place and the period, Governor Tel-
fair's commercial operations were very successful and
extensive. He maintained good credit in, and impor-
tant business connections with, the West Indies, Charles-
town, Philadelphia, New York, Newport, Liverpool,
London, etc. Dealing largely in rice, lumber, cotton,
indigo, and other staple commodities, he operated on
his own account and sold upon commission. As the
owner of sawmills judiciously located, and of sev-
eral valuable plantations well equipped with negroes,
animals, and agricultural implements, his income —
aside from that derived from his commercial business
— was generous. A capital financier, he became one
of the richest men of his day and generation in Geor-
gia ; and the estate which he accumulated — properly
husbanded and judiciously administered by his daugh-
ters — has recently been dispensed in public charities
of the most useful and abundant character. Prominent
among them may be mentioned Hodgson Hall — the
home of the Georgia Historical Society — and the Tel-
fair Academy of Arts and Sciences. In passing upon
and sustaining the charitable bequests contained in the
will of Miss Telfair, when their validity was questioned
in the courts, Mr. Justice Bradley observed: "It is a
laudable ambition to wish to transmit one's name to

EDWARD TELFAIR. 167

posterity by deeds of beneficence. The millionaire who
leaves the world without doing anything for the bene-
fit of society, or for the advancement of science, moral-
ity, or civilization, turns to dust and is forgotten ; but
he who employs a princely fortune in founding institu-
tions for the alleviation of suffering or the elevation of
his race erects a monument more noble, and generally
more effective to preserve his name, than the Pyramids.
Thousands of the wealthy and the noble in the early
days of English civilization are deservedly forgotten ;
but the founders of colleges in Oxford and Cambridge
will be borne on the grateful memories of Englishmen
as long as their empire lasts. Harvard and Yale in
our own country are pertinent examples of this truth."
In the history of testaments Georgia has never known
charitable bequests of such magnitude and liberal scope
as those passing under the wills of the daughters of
Governor Telfair, 1 distributing the large estate which
in great measure was accumulated and transmitted by
him. Not only by these prominent charities, but also
in the records of the period, and by a county named in
his honor, is his memory worthily perpetuated.

1 His will was probated in Chatham County on the 4th of January,
1808, and is now of file in the Ordinary's Office in Savannah.

GEORGE WALTON.

It was a remark of D'Alembert that high office
resembles a pyramid, the summit of which can be
reached only by reptiles and eagles.

We recall no citizen of Georgia who, during a life
extending over little more than half a century, ac-
quired loftier or more numerous honors within the
gift of the Commonwealth than the Honorable George
Walton. In the attainment, enjoyment, and execution
of the political and judicial trusts committed to his
keeping, no slime of the serpent besmirched his path-
way. In the discharge of the duties devolved upon him
he was fearless, conscientious, and capable. In all sta-
tions he fulfilled every legitimate expectation. With-
out the adjuvatives of birth, education, and fortune,
he won and maintained his right to preferment by
conscientious endeavor, consecutive study, tireless in-
dustry, and unquestioned ability. His life, labors, and
success afford brilliant illustration of what, in this
democratic country, may be achieved by honesty of
purpose, natural talent, courageous action, earnest
effort, and inflexible will.

Born in Prince Edward County, Virginia, in 1749,
and becoming an orphan at a tender age, he passed
under the care of a guardian who, as the family tradi-
tion runs, unwilling to assume the burden of his cus-
tody and education, apprenticed him to a carpenter.
The industry and fidelity of the lad were commend-

GEORGE WALTON. 169

able, and his desire for intellectual improvement at-
tracted the notice both of employer and companions.
Unable, during the day, to give any attention to his
books, and too poor to afford the luxury of a lamp, he
read them nightly by the light of fat fagots which he
collected and husbanded for that purpose. Intent upon
his studies, he refrained from those nocturnal sports
which too often lead the young and inexperienced
into dissipation, idleness, and sometimes ruin. By judi-
cious use of his evening hours he made, under the cir-
cumstances, rapid advancement in knowledge ; eagerly
perusing all good books which could be borrowed from
friends and neighbors.

So favorably impressed was the master with the
character, intelligence, and ambition of his apprentice
that long before his articles were concluded he relieved
him from their obligation, and permitted him to retain
the fruits of his daily industry. Thus young Walton
accumulated some money, which enabled him, when
about twenty years of age, to leave Virginia and seek
new fortunes in Savannah.

Arriving at this little commercial metropolis of the
Colony of Georgia, he resolved to become a lawyer.
Henry Young, Esq., received him into his office, and
gave him the benefit of his library and of his instruc-
tion. After suitable preparation he was called to the
bar, and at once entered with zeal upon the practice
of the profession of his choice. That success early
attended upon his efforts may be fairly admitted ; for
we have before us an opinion given by him to Edward
Telfair, Esq. — then a gentleman of influence and
ample means, afterwards a member of the Continental
Congress and a Governor of Georgia — upon a ques-

170 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

tion of considerable moment. This opinion was fur-
nished in 1774, and his employment by so prominent
a merchant as Mr. Telfair speaks well for the standing
of the young attorney in the community.

In 1777 he married Dorothy Camber, — young and
fair, — to whom he was devotedly attached, and from
whom, during the progress of the war of the Revolu-
tion, he for some time suffered painful separation.

The passage of the Boston Port Bill, the first step
in a system of coercive measures adopted by the Brit-
ish ministry ; — of a second act, which provided that
the Provincial Council of Massachusetts — previously
elected by the representative assembly in accordance
with charter privileges — should thereafter be ap-
pointed by the Crown ; that the Royal Governor should
be invested with the power of nominating and remov-
ing judges, sheriffs, and other executive officers whose
functions possessed the slightest importance; that jury-
men, hitherto selected by the freeholders and citizens
of the several towns, should in future be nominated
and summoned by the sheriffs ; that no town-meetings
of the inhabitants should be convoked without permis-
sion in writing from the Royal Governor, and that no
business should then be discussed other than the mat-
ters specified and approved in the Governor's license ;
— and of a third act, which empowered the Governor
of the Province, if he saw fit, to commit any parties
indicted for murder or charged with capital offenses,
for trial, either to another Colony or to Great Britain,
aroused the opposition of liberal statesmen in England,
and was justly regarded in America as forming a
complete system of tyranny. By the first, exclaimed
the organs of popular opinion in the Colonies, thou-

GEORGE WALTON. 171

sands of innocent persons are, by the act of a few
individuals, robbed of their livelihood ; by the second,
chartered liberties are annihilated ; and by the third,
lives may be destroyed with impunity. The passage of
the Quebec Bill also enhanced the general indignation.

A knowledge of this legislation and an apprehension
of its pernicious influence inflamed the minds of the pa-
triots in South Carolina and Georgia, and induced them
to give early and decided expression to their views of
condemnation and opposition.

Responding to a public call, a respectable number of
the freeholders and inhabitants of the Province assem-
bled at the Watch House, in Savannah, on the 27th of
July, 1774. After an animated discussion, a commit-
tee was raised, of which George Walton was a mem-
ber, to prepare resolutions — similar to those adopted
by the Northern Colonies — declaratory of Georgia's
condemnation of the oppressive measures inaugurated
by Parliament That there might be an expression
of opinion from some of the more distant parishes,
— unrepresented in this convocation, — the meeting
" stood adjourned " until the 10th of the following
August

Alarmed at the drift of events, Governor Wright
convened his Council and consulted as to the best
method of checking proceedings which he denounced
as unjustifiable and revolutionary. As a result of the
conference, Sir James issued a proclamation pronoun-
cing the purposed assemblage " unconstitutional, illegal,
and punishable by law," and warned all loyal subjects
of his Majesty to refrain from participating therein.
In direct opposition to the wish of his Excellency, and
in utter disregard of his proclamation, a large meeting

172 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

of the inhabitants of the Province was held at Ton-
dee's Tavern, in Savannah, at the time designated.
Resolutions, framed by the committee selected at the
previous assemblage, were unanimously adopted, claim-
ing that as protection and allegiance were reciprocal
and, under the British Constitution, correlative terms,
his Majesty's subjects in America had a clear and
indisputable right to petition the Throne upon every
emergency ; condemning Parliamentary legislation with
regard to the port of Boston, the abolition of the
Charter of Massachusetts Bay, the attempt to tax
without representation, and the effort to deprive any
colonist of the privilege of trial by his peers from the
vicinage ; promising cooperation with sister Ameri-
can Colonies in all constitutional measures to obtain
redress of American grievances, and in the effort to
maintain the inestimable blessings derived from God
and the Magna Charta; and appointing a committee
of conference with full powers, and also a special com-
mittee to solicit, receive, and forward subscriptions and
supplies for the suffering poor in Boston. With the
preparation and support of these patriotic and compre-
hensive resolutions George Walton was earnestly and
prominently connected.

As might be well imagined, the effect of this con-
vention, and of the adoption of these resolutions, was
to confirm the division of sentiment in Georgia upon
the political questions of the day. The Royal party
was strong and alert, while the " Liberty Boys " were
intent upon acquiring the mastery and placing the
Province fairly within the lists of the Revolutionists.

Although a motion to "send six deputies to the
General Congress of the American Colonies " was en-

^

GEORGE WALTON. 173

tertained and pressed, it did not receive the sanction
of the meeting of the 10th of August.

To the Republicans the position occupied by Geor-
gia was distasteful and mortifying. From her isolated
attitude, from her apparent indifference to the com-
pact into which the American Colonies had entered,
from the controlling influence of Governor Wright and
his Council, and from the ban under which she was
placed in the esteem of the Confederated Provinces by
her failure to participate in the deliberations of and to
be bound by the conclusions reached by the Continen-
tal Congress, they determined to liberate her at the
earliest practicable moment

St John's Parish, impatient of the delay, acted upon
her own responsibility ; and, in advance of the Colony,
sent Dr. Lyman Hall as a special Delegate to the Con-
tinental Congress.

On the 21st of June, 1775, a call was published, signed
by Noble Wymberley Jones, Archibald Bulloch, John
Houstoun, and George Walton, requesting the inhabi-
tants of the town and district of Savannah to meet at
the Liberty Pole on the following day, at ten o'clock in
the forenoon, for the purpose of selecting a committee
to bring about a union of Georgia with her sister Colo-
nies in the cause of freedom. The alarming situation
of affairs in America, and particularly in Georgia, was
urged as a reason for punctual and full attendance.

At the appointed place and designated hour many
were present ; and a Council of Safety, consisting
of William Ewen, William Le Conte, Joseph Clay,
Basil Cooper, Samuel Elbert, William Young, Elisha
Butler, Edward Telfair, John Glen, George Hous-
toun, George Walton, Joseph Habersham, Francis H.

174 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

Harris, John Smith, John Morel, and Seth John
Cuthbert, was selected, with instructions to maintain
an active correspondence with the Continental Con-
gress, with Councils of Safety in other Provinces, and
with committees raised in Georgia parishes. This
business concluded, a number of gentlemen who had
attended the meeting dined at Tondee's Tavern. A
Union flag was hoisted upon the Liberty Pole, at the
foot of which two field pieces were posted ; thirteen
patriotic toasts were drunk, each being responded to by
discharges from the cannon and by martial music : and
all this within sight and hearing of the Royal Governor
and his Council. It was daily becoming more evident
that the power of the King's party in Georgia was on
the wane ; that the period of doubt and hesitation was
nearing an end ; and that the Province would soon be
prepared to link her fortunes with those of her twelve
sisters. Meetings were called in all the parishes to
commission Delegates to a Provincial Congress which
was to assemble in Savannah on the 4th of July, 1775.
The Colony was thoroughly aroused, and resolved upon
decisive action. Even Governor Wright, — hitherto
so hopeful of the future, and entertaining such high
impression of the power of the Royal party, — in a let-
ter to Lord Dartmouth, under date of the 17th of
June, expressed the belief that the members of the
approaching convention would not fail to " entirely
approve of whatever might be determined upon by
the Continental Congress."

Memorable in the political annals of Georgia were
the proceedings of this Provincial Congress which con-
vened in Savannah on the 4th of July, 1775. Every
parish was represented, and the Delegates were fitting

GEORGE WALTON. 175

exponents of the intelligence, the dominant hopes, and
the material interests of the communities from which
they respectively came. This was Georgia's first seces-
sion convention. It placed the Province in active sym-
pathy and confederated alliance with the twelve other
American Colonies, practically annulled within her
limits the operation of the objectionable acts of Par-
liament, questioned the supremacy of the Realm, and
inaugurated measures calculated to accomplish the in-
dependence of the plantation and its erection into the
dignity of a State. In all the political agitations and
movements which antedated and led up to this impor-
tant convocation, George Walton had borne a promi-
nent part He stood shoulder to shoulder with Archi-
bald Bulloch, Noble Wymberley Jones, John Houstoun,
the brothers Joseph and John Habersham, Jonathan
Bryan, Joseph Clay, Edward Telfair, and others who
were specially influential in dissipating the power of
kingly rule.

This Congress perfected its organization by electing
Archibald Bulloch president and George Walton secre-
tary. While it lies not within the compass of this
sketch to enumerate its proceedings, we may state in
a general way that it proclaimed, in terms most em-
phatic, a just conception of the natural and constitu-
tional rights which appertained to Georgians as citi-
zens of the Colony and subjects of Great Britain ;
testified determined opposition to the late objection-
able acts of Parliament ; expressed admiration for the
heroism of New England, and a stern resolve to share
the fortunes of the sister Colonies ; appointed Delegates
to, and manifested a willingness to observe all orders
promulgated by, the Continental Congress j professed

176 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

unswerving loyalty to the principles of American lib-
erty, and suggested measures deemed appropriate in
the present perplexed condition of public affairs.

Mr. Walton was appointed upon the " Committee
of Intelligence/ ' and was also named as one of the
members to present the "Article of Association,' ' then
adopted, to the inhabitants of the town and district of
Savannah for signature by them. In association with
the Rev. Dr. Zubly, Dr. Noble W. Jones, and William
Young, he was commissioned to prepare and submit
to the people of Georgia an address containing an
account of the state of American affairs, and a narra-
tive of the proceedings of this Provincial Congress.
This address, which is said to have been framed by Mr.
Walton, is a model of its kind.

In defiance of the protest of Governor Wright, Mr.
Walton and his associates of the Council of Safety
thoroughly purged the militia of the Loyal element
which lurked in the ranks of its commissioned officers.
By a resolution of this Provincial Congress, he was
continued as a member of the Council of Safety ; and
of that body he was, in December, 1775, chosen presi-
dent, with Edward Langworthy as secretary.

The onward march of the Revolution was rapid and
irresistible. Everything passed quickly under the do-
minion of the patriots. Even the Royal Governor,
escaping from confinement, fled the Province, and
there was no one left to dispute the supremacy of the
" Sons of Liberty."

Archibald Bulloch was elected president of the Pro-
vincial Congress which assembled in Savannah on the
20th of January, 1776. That sterling patriot^ and
John Houstoun, Lyman Hall, Button Gwinnett, and

GEORGE WALTON. 177

George Walton were then chosen as Delegates to the
Continental Congress. To them this official communi-
cation was addressed :

u Gentlemen, — Our remote situation from both the
seat of power and arms keeps us so very ignorant of
the counsels and ultimate designs of the Congress and
of the transactions in the field, that we shall decline
giving any particular instructions other than strongly
to recommend it to you that you never lose sight of
the Province ; the Indians, both south and northwest-
wardly upon our backs ; the fortified town of St. Au-
gustine, made a continual rendezvous for soldiers in
our very neighborhood ; together with our blacks and
Tories with us : let these weighty truths be the power-
ful arguments for support. At the same time we also
recommend it to you always to keep in view the gen-
eral utility, remembering that the great and righteous
cause in which we are engaged is not provincial, but
continental. We therefore, gentlemen, shall rely upon
your patriotism, abilities, firmness, and integrity to
propose, join, and concur in all such measures as you
shall think calculated for the common good, and to
oppose such as shall appear destructive."

With the exception of an interval in 1779, when he
filled the gubernatorial chair of Georgia, Mr. Walton
was continued as a member of the Continental Con-
gress until October, 1781. In association with Button
Gwinnett and Lyman Hall he affixed his signature to
the Declaration of Independence. As a member of the
Treasury Board, of the Committee on Naval Affairs,
and of other committees, he rendered intelligent and
willing service. With Robert Morris and George Cly-
mer he was commissioned to transact such continental

12

178 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

business as might be fouud necessary to be done in
Philadelphia; and George Taylor and himself were
appointed commissioners to make presents to, and con-
fer with, the Indians at Easton, Pennsylvania. It was
upon his motion, in 1780, that the Treasury Board was
empowered to draw bills of exchange, aggregating
$100,000 in specie, at ninety days, upon the Honorable
Benjamin Franklin, Minister Plenipotentiary of the
United States near the court of Versailles.

With Edward Telfair and Edward Langworthy, on
the 9th of July, 1778, he signed the Articles of Con-
federation ; and on the 17th of the following Decem-
ber he and Dr. Lyman Hall, as special commissioners
from Georgia, waited upon General Lincoln at Charles-
town " to inform him of the true situation of matters
in this State, and show how essentially requisite it was
that some vigorous and decisive measures should be
taken for its defense against the incursions of its south,
em neighbors."

When Colonel Campbell, late in December, 1778,
effected a landing at Girardeau's Bluff and moved
upon Savannah, defended by General Eobert Howe,
George Walton, — who then held the rank of Colonel l
of the First Battalion of the First Eegiment of Foot
Militia formed for the defense of Georgia, — with one
hundred men, was posted on the South Common, on
the right of the American line, to guard the road lead-
ing to Great Ogeechee Ferry. Although informed by
Colonel Walton that there was a private way through
the swamp, by means of which the enemy could pass
from the high grounds of Brewton Hill plantation and

1 This commission was issued by the Honorable Archibald Bulloch,
then Governor of Georgia, and bears date January 9, 1777.

GEORGE WALTON. 179

gain the rear of the American right, and although
urged by him to have that route properly observed,
General Howe neglected to give the matter any at-
tention. The consequence was that Sir James Baird,
with the Light Infantry, — supported by the New York
Volunteers under Colonel Trumbull, — conducted by
a negro guide, following this unguarded route, gained
the rear of the American right, and, falling heavily
upon the militia detachment commanded by Colonel
Walton, dispersed it with great loss. In this shock,
Colonel Walton, severely wounded in the thigh, fell
from his horse and was captured.

At the sound of these guns, Colonel Campbell, run-
ning his field pieces to the front, opened fire upon the
brigades of Huger and Elbert, and ordered a vigorous
charge all along his line. Attacked in front and rear,
General Howe's forces gave way. A retreat was
sounded ; a panic ensued ; and the Americans, retreat-
ing in a disorderly manner through Savannah, made
their way, as best they could, to the high ground
beyond the Springfield plantation swamp, leaving the
town and all that it contained open to the victor.

By the musket-ball which he received while endeav-
oring with his militia to stay the onset of Sir James
Baird, Colonel Walton's thigh was broken. Judge T.
U. P. Charlton says that he never recovered from the
effect of this wound, but limped to the day of his
death.

The following letter (the original of which lies before
us), penned with a trembling hand from his couch of
pain, and addressed to his young wife, will be read
with interest : —

180 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

" Savannah, 4 January, 1779, 11 o'clock, p. m.

" My dear Girl, — I was very happy to hear just this
moment, by a flag, that you were safely arrived in
Carolina. It is my earnest desire that you keep with
your sister until you hear from me again. Your dear
mamma continues still extremely ill at our house, and
I am afraid that she cannot long survive.

"The day you left your brother and myself, my
dear Dolly, in the chances of it I received a wound in
the thigh. The bone is broke, but cures of this kind
are quite common. I have every possible comfort
from my conquerors, — their hospital surgeons to at-
tend me, with Trail, Irvine, and Brydie. And they
tell me they expect to see me do well. Be therefore
of good spirits ; and let me not hear by every flag that
you are inconsolable, which will only operate to de-
press mine. At any rate, you ought to recollect that
in these troublesome times you have no right to ex-
pect a life of superior tranquillity to your neighbors.

" My love to Polly. Brisbane is in town, perfectly
well. I suppose he writes by this flag, tho' I know
nothing about it, having just been apprised of it my-
self.

" God bless you, my dear, and remember that you
are sincerely loved by a man who wishes to make
honor and reputation the rule of all his actions.

"Geo. Walton."

We reproduce also the following letter from General
Howe, expressive of his sympathy with the wounded
officer, and commending him for his gallant conduct
on this unfortunate occasion : —

GEORGE WALTON. 181

"Deer 30, 1778.

" My heart bled for your distress, my dear Walton,
when I saw you yesterday. The fortitude with which
you bore it is worthy of yourself. I express to you
the high approbation I have of your conduct thro' the
whole military procedure since this alarm happened,
and in particular in the affair of yesterday, of which I
can never speak but with applause without acting con-
trary to the dictates of my heart Keep up your
spirits. Inform me how you are, and be assured that
I am, dear sir, with great regard,

" Sincerely yours, &c,

"Robert Howe.

u P. S. I dare say you will be permitted to write to
me ; and if you are able, pray do. Is there anything
in which I can serve you ?

"Colonel Walton."

When so far recovered from his hurt as to be able to
walk, Colonel Walton was allowed to proceed to Sun-
bury, where for some time he remained a prisoner of
war. In consideration of the fact that he was a member
of the Continental Congress, that he had signed the
Declaration of Independence, and that he was a promi-
nent citizen, the British authorities at first demanded
in exchange an officer with the rank of brigadier-gen-
eral. His term of service in the Continental Congress
having expired, he was finally exchanged for a captain
in the navy, and proceeded to Augusta, which was
then the capital of republican Georgia.

By the General Assembly which convened in that
town in November, 1779, Colonel Walton was elected
Governor of the infant Commonwealth. There were

182 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

then two Executive Councils actually organized and
claiming to exercise important functions within the
limits of the State wasted by a common enemy and
rent by internal feuds. Violent were the collisions of
parties, and confused was the administration of public
affairs. Southern Georgia was in the hands of the
enemy, and the republican government of the upper
portion of the State was impecunious, weak, and peri-
patetic. Fortunately, little necessity existed for the
office either of legislator or of governor.

During his term of service an episode occurred
which, in view of the past life of Governor Walton,
appeared very strange, and militated against his vera-
city and fair dealing. To this day no satisfactory
explanation has been offered. His friendship for But-
ton Gwinnett, and his disappointment both at the
result of the political contest with Treutlen and the
unfortunate issue of the duel with Mcintosh, while
affording ground for strong enmity towards the Gen-
eral, suggest no justification of the means used to
undermine his influence and compass his overthrow.

It will be remembered that in consequence of his
disagreement and duel with Gwinnett, and the deplor-
able want of accord between the civil and military
authorities in Georgia in 1777, General Mcintosh had
been induced to quit his service at home and seek
employment in some other quarter. Returning after
an absence of more than two years, during the siege
of Savannah and in the bloody assault by the allied
army upon the British works around that town on the
morning of the 9th of October, 1779, he had given
fresh proof of his courage, and of his devotion to State
and nation. While absent from Georgia he received

GEORGE WALTON. 183

a letter from George Walton, in which, commenting
upon the unfortunate condition of affairs, he said :
" The demon Discord yet presides in this country, and
God only knows when his reign will be at an end. I
have strove so hard to do good with so poor a return,
that, were the liberties of America secure, I would bid
adieu to all public employment, to politics, and to
strife ; for even virtue itself will meet with enmity."

It was General Mcintosh's hope that time had healed
all wounds, and that, without reproach, he would be
permitted to devote his energies and military talents
to the defense of Georgia. In this expectation he was
mistaken. On the 30th of November, 1779, a letter
purporting to be signed by William Glascock, Speaker
of the Georgia House of Representatives, was transmit-
ted to the President of the Continental Congress by
George Walton, Governor of Georgia. Congress was
therein assured of the dissatisfaction of the people of
Georgia at the assignment of General Mcintosh to
the command of the military forces in that State. It
was earnestly recommended that the national assem-
bly would, while he remained in commission, indicate
" some distant field for the exercise of his abilities."
So thoroughly did this communication — supplemented
by the representations of General Mcintosh's enemies
— poison the minds of the members of that body that
on the 15th of February, 1780, they voted to "dispense
with the services of Brigadier-General Mcintosh until
the further order of Congress."

Informed of this correspondence, General Mcintosh
promptly demanded an explanation from its alleged
author. Mr. Glascock at once denied the authenticity
of the document, and, on the 12th of May, 1780,

184 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

addressed a letter to the President of Congress in
which he denounced the communication of November,
1779, as a " flagrant forgery," and disclaimed both
knowledge and paternity of it. He added : " I am
glad of the opportunity of informing Congress that
so far is that forgery from truth, that I believe there
is not a respectable citizen or officer in Georgia who
would not be happy in serving under General Mcin-
tosh ; nor one in either class who would be otherwise
except a few who are governed by design or self-inter-
est." Mr. Glascock also furnished General Mcintosh
with a copy of this communication.

Strange as it may appear, an examination into the
matter disclosed the fact that the letter to which the
name of the Speaker of the House of Representatives
was forged had been suggested, dictated, and for-
warded by Governor Walton and certain members of
his Council, with the design of impairing the influence
of General Mcintosh and compassing his removal from
military command in Georgia. Whether Governor
Walton was personally cognizant of the forgery, or
whether he was deceived and imposed upon by mem-
bers of his Council who were individually responsible
for the malevolent act, must remain in doubt. In any
event, he was instrumental in promoting a nefarious
scheme, which, fortunately, failed to accomplish the
unlawful result at which it aimed. So far from injur-
ing the popularity and usefulness of the meritorious
officer whose valuable services were called in question,
it drew down upon its authors the condemnation of all
fair-minded people.

Upon the termination of the Revolutionary War, this
whole affair formed a subject of inquiry and review

GEORGE WALTON. 185

by the Georgia Legislature. On the journal of the
House of Assembly, under date of January 30, 1783,
appear the following resolutions : —

"Kesolved, that they have examined such papers
and persons as have been offered by the different par-
ties, from which it appears that the resolves of Council,
dated at Augusta, December 12, 1779, and the letter
from Governor Walton to the President of Congress,
dated December 15, 1779, respecting General Mcin-
tosh, were unjust, illiberal, and a misrepresentation of
facts ; that the letter said to be from William Glascock,
Speaker of the Assembly, dated November 30, 1779,
addressed to the President of Congress, appears to be
a forgery, in violation of law and truth, and highly
injurious to the interest of the State, and dangerous
to the rights of its citizens ; and that the Attorney-
General be ordered to make the necessary inquiries,
and enter such prosecutions as may be consistent with
his duty and office.

" Resolved, that General Mcintosh be informed that
this House does entertain an abhorrence of all such
injurious attempts made use of, as appears by the
papers laid before them, to injure the character of an
officer and a citizen of this State who merits the atten-
tion of the Legislature for his early, decided, and per-
severing efforts in the defense of America, of which
virtue this House has the highest sense."

It is a curious fact that the very day before the
adoption of these resolutions the Legislature had
elected George Walton Chief Justice of the State of
Georgia; thus practically rendering impossible any
prosecution so far as he was concerned, and intimating
that he, at least, was not personally responsible for the

186 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

forgery, however much he may have been instrumen-
tal in endorsing anil bringing it to the notice of the
Continental Congress.

Short and uneventful was the gubernatorial career
of Mr. Walton in 1779. By the ensuing General As-
sembly Richard Howley was, on the 4th of January,
1780, elected Governor, and Edward Telfair, George
Walton, Benjamin Andrew, Lyman Hall, and William
Few were appointed Delegates to the Continental
Congress,

While members of and in attendance upon this Con-
gress, Messrs. Walton, Few, and Howley apprehended
that it was the design of the British ministry to submit
overtures of peace upon the basis of freedom to such
portions of America as were then in the possession of
the Revolutionists, and of retention by the Crown of
such other parts as were actually held by the King's
forces. As Georgia at that time was largely under
the dominion of the enemy, deeming it their duty
promptly and emphatically to protest against acquiesr
cence by the Continental Congress in any such propo-
sition, they prepared and caused to be printed in Phila-
delphia, in January, 1781, over their own signatures,
a pamphlet entitled " Observations upon the Effects of
certain late Political Suggestions, by the Delegates of
Georgia." Referring to the fact that Georgia had been
in great measure reduced by conquest, they entered
forcible plea against the entertainment of the doctrine
of uti possidetis, and urged that inasmuch as the in-
habitants of that Province had united in the common
cause, and had expended their blood and fortunes in
its support, " it would be unjust and inhuman for the
other parts of the Union separately to embrace the

GEORGE WALTON. 187

result of the common efforts, and leava them under the
yoke of a bankrupt and enraged tyrant." " To pre-
serve the States entire is the object of the alliance
with France, and it cannot be the interest of the other
great branch of the family compact that we should
again make a part of the British Empire. . . . Georgia
is a material part of the Union, and cannot be given
up without affecting its essential interest, if not endan-
gering its existence. ... As to America, no part of it
could expect to be long free while England retains
both ends of the continent."

Whatever may have been the effect of this political
tract, certain it is that, if memorialized on the subject,
the Continental Congress declined to entertain the
rumored basis of pacification. With the authorship
of this manly protest the pen of Mr. Walton is cred-
ited.

In January, 1783, that sterling patriot and worthy
gentleman, Dr. Lyman Hall, was chosen Governor of
Georgia, and on the 31st of that month the Honorable
George Walton was elected to fill the position of Chief
Justice, with Samuel Stirk as Attorney-General. Geor*
gia was then divided into eight counties, viz. : Wilkes,
Richmond, Burke, Effingham, Chatham, Liberty, Glynn,
and Camden. In each county there were two Associ-
ate Justices, and it was the duty of the Chief Justice to
ride the circuit of all the counties. These journeys, as
they were necessarily performed in stagecoach, private
conveyance, or on horseback, were tedious and fatigu-
ing. As illustrative of Chief Justice Walton's charges
to the grand juries, we select the following, delivered
in Liberty County : —

188 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

a Gentlemen of the Grand Jury, — The order and
decorum with which the business of the last circuit
was done in this county did not fail in producing the
most general satisfaction, besides affording a happy
presage of the best efforts in future from regular
courts of justice. And I have now the satisfaction to
inform you that an ardent desire for a strict execution
of the laws is prevalent throughout the State.

" The late amazing augmentation of the number of
our inhabitants in the Western District will soon give
a new feature to our political affairs, — a consideration
which ought to command the earliest attention of our
elder citizens. In dispensing advantages, the mode
should be our own. The settlement of the two new
counties will be extremely advantageous, both on ac-
count of the addition to our national strength and the
increase of agriculture. The productions of the lands
bordering upon the waters of the Alatamaha must, for
a considerable time, centre in Sunbury ; the rebuilding,
extension, and improvement of which form an object
well worthy your attention. It has been devoted to
suffer by the tempest and at the hands of our late cruel
enemy; however, Union, Industry, and Perseverance
will soon recover it. But while we contemplate these
things, we should examine whether our happiness is
secured upon a lasting foundation.

" The number of the inhabitants which conducted
the late contest, both in the cabinet and the field, to
its glorious issue will soon be inferior to that which
will be made up of new residents. Is it not, therefore,
prudent to consider whether the Constitution — the
present basis of our laws — was calculated in the pros-
pect of such an event ? And whether it would not be

GEORGE WALTON. 189

wise to model the necessary improvements while in
our power? The sacrifices we have made for the
establishment of the liberties of this country should
neither be forgotten nor their rewards relinquished.
The people in the counties lying on Savannah River
are promoting petitions for that end, and I submit the
example to your discretion and judgment

" There is one thing, gentlemen, that I cannot for-
bear to mention to you in particular, and that is the
extreme inconvenient periods pointed out for holding
your courts. To go through the labour of riding and
attending five successive courts, at the distance of two
hundred miles from the capital, and then to post down
forty miles further to Liberty County, is distressing
indeed, and too much to be punctually performed. I
would fain hope, therefore, that the people of this
county will promote the passing of an act authorizing
the next circuit to begin instead of ending here, which
will enable the law officers with more ease and cer-
tainty to perform their duty, and will afford time for
the trial of appeals which now are or may be made
merely for a delay of justice.

" Gentlemen, I have heard of no material infrac-
tions of the law since the last session. If there have
been any, the magistrates will furnish the Attorney-
General with the necessary informations, and they
shall be' duly attended to. Your local evils, if you
have any, you will please to make known to the public
by presentment, Geo. Walton.

"Sunbury, 18 April, 1784."

In 1787 Judge Walton was appointed a Delegate
from the State of Georgia to the Federal Convention

190 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

charged with revising the Articles of Confederation,
and reporting such alterations and provisions as might
be deemed adequate to the emergencies of govern-
ment and the preservation of the Union. Prevented
by judicial engagements, he did not attend. The year
previous he had represented Georgia in the prelimi-
nary settlement of differences touching the boundary
line between that State and South Carolina.

In 1789 he occupied for a second time the guberna-
torial chair. The term of service then lasted for only
one year. It was during his administration that Geor-
gia remodeled her Constitution. Augusta was still
the capital of the State, and it was here that Gov-
ernor Walton received from the President of the Con-
stitutional Convention the Constitution then adopted,
affixed the seal of state to it, and proclaimed its provi-
sions for the information of the inhabitants. As indi-
cating the paucity of the population at that time, the
following printed copies of the newly adopted Consti-
tution were deemed sufficient for public needs and
general information in the several counties then com-
prised within the limits of Georgia : " Ordered, that
copies of the Constitution be distributed as follows : —
To Camden County, 26 copies ; to Glynn County, 26
copies; to Liberty County, 52 copies; to Chatham
County, 70 copies ; to Effingham County, 26 copies ;
to Burke County, 52 copies ; to Richmond County, 52
copies ; to Wilkes County, 70 copies ; to Washington
County, 26 copies ; to Greene County, 26 copies ; and
to Franklin County, 26 copies."

With the pacification of the Creek Indians, and with
the protection of the frontiers of Georgia against their
depredations, Governor Walton was largely employed.

GEORGE WALTON. 191

Upon the occasion of President Washington's visit to
Augusta in 1791, Judge Walton was Chairman of the
Reception Committee, and on behalf of the citizens
prepared and presented the Address of Welcome. It
was couched in the following complimentary terms : —

" To the President op the United States op America :

" Sir, — Your journey to the Southward being ex-
tended to the frontier of the Union, affords a fresh
proof of your indefatigable zeal in the service of your
country, and equal attention and regard to all the
people of the United States. With these impressions,
the citizens of Augusta present their congratulations
upon your arrival here in health, with the assurance
that it will be their greatest pleasure, during your stay
with them, to testify the sincere affection they have
for your person, their sense of obligation for your
merits and for your services, and their entire confi-
dence in you as the Chief Magistrate of their country.
On your return, and at all times, their best wishes will
accompany you, while they maintain the hope that a
life of virtue, benevolence, and patriotism may be long
preserved for the benefit of the age and the example
of posterity."

To this address the President was pleased to return
the following answer : —

tt Gentlemen, — I receive your congratulations on
my arrival in Augusta with great pleasure. I am
much obliged by your assurances of regard, and thank
you with unfeigned sincerity for the favorable senti-
ments you are pleased to express towards me.

192 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

a Entreating you to be persuaded of my gratitude,
I desire to assure you that it will afford me the most
sensible satisfaction to learn the progression of your
prosperity. My best wishes for your happiness, collec-
tively and individually, are sincerely offered."

In 1795 and 1796 Mr. Walton represented Georgia
as a Senator in the Congress of the United States. He
was a member of the Union Society of Savannah, and
a trustee of the Eichmond Academy. As one of the
first trustees of the University of Georgia, he rendered
valuable service in formulating plans and adopting
measures for the promotion of higher education in
Georgia.

For many years, and at the time of his death, he
was Judge of the Middle Circuit of this Commonwealth.
The State was then divided into three judicial districts,
— the Eastern, the Middle, and the Western. The
Middle Circuit embraced the following counties : Scre-
ven, Burke, Montgomery, Washington, Warren, Rich-
mond, Columbia, and Jefferson. As a judge, few men
in this Commonwealth ever attained unto, and none
transcended, the reputation acquired and maintained
by Mr. Walton.

Upon the conclusion of peace he established his
home near Augusta, and there resided until the day of
his death, spending his winters upon his farm, called
" Meadow Garden," l then on the outskirts of the town,
and now within the corporate limits of the city, and
his summers on Mount Salubrity, afterwards known
as the Sand Hills, and at present within the confines
of the village of Summerville.

1 The dwelling-house still stands.

GEORGE WALTON. 193

During the night of the 2d of February, 1804, Judge
Walton died suddenly at his winter residence, Meadow
Garden. For many years he had been a martyr to the
gout. The death of his eldest son, just entering upon
manhood, well educated, amiable, and full of promise,
exerted a depressing influence, and is thought to have
hastened the demise of his distinguished father. Upon
the announcement of his dissolution the community
was profoundly impressed, and united in paying the
most marked funeral honors. The members of the
Richmond Bar convened at once, passed complimen-
tary resolutions, and arrayed themselves in mourning.
Upon the day appointed for the funeral a procession,
consisting of

" The City Marshal,
The Intendant,
Members of the City Council,
The Sheriff of the County of Richmond,
The Governor of Georgia and his Aids,
The Secretaries of Departments and Clerks,
Magistrates and other Public Officers,
Attendant Physician and Clergymen,
The Corpse,
The Pall-bearers,
The Chief Mourners,
Members of the Bar,
Trustees of the Richmond Academy,
Rector, Assistants, and Pupils,

Citizens walking two and two,

The Company of Rangers, and

The Artillery firing Minute Guns,"

moved from Meadow Garden through the streets of
Augusta and to the family cemetery of Colonel Robert
Watkins at Rosney, where the remains of the honored
dead were interred. Nothing was omitted which could
is

194 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

lend dignity and solemnity to the demonstration, or
evidence the general sorrow at the departure of this
illustrious citizen. Here the bones of Judge Walton
rested until their removal in 1848, when, in associa-
tion with those of the Honorable Lyman Hall, they
were inhumed beneath the monument in Greene
Street, in front of the Court House, in Augusta, Geor-
gia, erected by patriotic hands in memory of the Sign-
ers from this Commonwealth of the Declaration of
Independence. The corner stone was laid on the 4th
of July in that year by the Masonic Fraternity with
appropriate rites. Eloquent addresses were delivered
by the Honorable William C. Dawson and by William
T. Gould, Esquire.

The purpose was to locate beneath this monument
the bones of all the Signers from Georgia, but the
grave of Button Gwinnett, — who received his mortal
hurt in the duel with General Lachlan Mcintosh in
1777, — although believed to be in the old cemetery
on South Broad Street, in Savannah, being without a
stone could not be identified. The remains of Dr.
Lyman Hall were readily obtained from the brick vault
on his plantation near Shell Bluff, in Burke County.
Parties were still in life who could point out the grave
of Governor Walton in the Rosney cemetery, although
unmarked by a monument, and in removing his bones
the trace of the ball which shattered his thigh in 1778
was still apparent in the osseous structure, and in the
effort which nature had made to repair the injury then
sustained. Dr. L P. Garvin, Mayor, and Councilmen Dr.
L. A. Dugas, Benjamin Conley, and G. F. Parish consti-
tuted the committee from the City Council of Augusta
charged with the collection of the bones of the Signers,

GEORGE WALTON. 195

their reinterment, and the erection of the memorial
shaft above them.

After describing the events which rendered the ob-
servance of the 4th of July, 1848, memorable in the
history of Augusta, the editor of "The Constitutionalist"
newspaper concludes with these patriotic sentiments: —

" We cannot close this notice without alluding to the
interesting fact that the honored dust of two of the
Signers of the Declaration of Independence, born in
distant sections of the Union, now repose harmoniously
together under the stone which marks a spot in our
city forever sacred and hallowed.

u Let it speak a monitory voice amidst the fiercest
strifes of party, and in the rising heats of sectional
animosities which so fearfully threaten the destruction
of the good work those immortal patriots so nobly
planned. Let it act like a talisman to still the boiling
passions and to quiet the blind rage of party.

"Lyman Hall was from the land of the Pilgrim
Fathers. He was a native of Connecticut. He made
his home upon Georgia soil, and proved himself a
useful and patriotic citizen. His adopted State ever
delighted to honor him while living, and gratefully
embalms his memory.

u George Walton also came from another Colony to
Georgia while she was yet struggling in her infancy.
He was a native of the Old Dominion, — of Frederick
County, Virginia. Thus does it seem that in the days
that tried men's souls there were patriots from every
section of the Old Union, one in principle, one in
feeling, though various skies smiled on their birth;
and, as a band of brothers, they wrought out for us a
heritage of Freedom for which we owe them a common
debt of gratitude."

196 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

It is rather a singular fact that Judge Walton, who
for so many years recognized the expediency of wills
and administered the laws appertaining to them, died
intestate. Upon her application, submitted on the 2d
of April, 1804, administration upon his estate was
granted to his widow, her bond being fixed at the sum
of twenty-five thousand dollars.

Alluding to the services rendered and the honors
won by Judge Walton, the author of the sketch in
Sanderson's " Biography of the Signers to the Declara-
tion of Independence" says: "There are indeed few
men in the United States upon whom more extensive
and solid proofs of public confidence have been lavished.
He was six times elected a Representative to Congress,
twice Governor of the State, once a Senator of the
United States, and four times Judge of the Superior
Courts; the latter office he held during fifteen years
and until the day of his death. He was one of the
Commissioners on the part of the United States to
negotiate a treaty with the Cherokee Indians in Ten-
nessee, and several times a member of the State Legis-
lature." He should have added that he was also Chief
Justice of Georgia.

In every station he was capable and conscientious,
observant of the trust reposed, and conspicuous in the
careful discharge of the appurtenant duties. As an
officer of the militia he was prompt and energetic,
displaying great gallantry in the presence of the
enemy. As a citizen he was alert, public-spirited, firm
in his convictions, and courageous in the advocacy of
right and liberty. Warm in his attachments, he did
not hesitate to avow his enmities.

Indulging in no temporizing policy, he was manly

GEORGE WALTON. 197

and open in his affiliations and in his dislikes. Stern
in his conceptions of right and duty, he was by nature
aristocratic in his sentiments, and pandered not to the
whims of the vtdgvs commune. In no degree was he
either a time-server or a suppliant for popular favor.
Merit he recognized and encouraged. Learning and
talent he held in special esteem. Of quick temper,
and entertaining a nice conception of the proprieties
of the occasion, he insisted upon a strict observance of
the respect due to station, and suffered neither neglect
nor slight at the hands of subordinates. In conversa-
tion he was terse, being partial to short and compre-
hensive expressions. Satire he often employed with
marked effect.

Generous in his mode of living, much given to study,
and neglectful of regular exercise, before he attained
unto middle life he became subject to attacks of gout
which grew more frequent and violent as he advanced
in years, engendering much suffering, and in the end
proving the cause of his death. He often remarked to
his physician that an entertaining volume was the most
effectual remedy for this malady. Of the society of
students and the well informed he was fond, and it was
his delight to lead youthful minds in the paths of
knowledge ; or, as he expressed it, a to put the young
beagles upon the track in the chase."

Among those who pursued their legal studies under
his immediate counsel and instruction may be men-
tioned the Honorable James Jackson, afterwards United
States Senator from and Governor of Georgia. 1

Seldom exempt from the claims of public affairs, he
evinced little desire for the accumulation of wealth.

1 T. U. P. Charlton's Life of Major- General James Jackson, p. 49. Au-
gusta, Georgia, 1809.

198 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

His salary, supplemented by a small income from his
farm, sufficed for the comfortable maintenance of him-
self and family. When not engaged in the discharge
of official duties he spent most of his time in his study.
His books were his constant and his favorite compan-
ions. " Come, my best friends, my books, and lead me
on," seemed his ever-recurring salutation. His early
thirst for knowledge remained unabated until the end
of his life.

Only one son — George Walton, commissioned Sec-
ond Lieutenant in the Second Regiment of Light Artil-
lery in May, 1808 — survived him. While a resident
of Pensacola he received, on the 17th of May, 1822,
from Andrew Jackson, the appointment of " Secretary
in and for the Territory of East Florida." He subse-
quently removed to Mobile, Alabama. He was the
father of Octavia Walton, who, as Madame Le Vert,
attained prominence in the social and literary world.

Comely in person, dignified and reserved in his
manners, Judge Walton was a marked personage in
any assembly. Of his features excellent memory has
been preserved by a miniature painted by the elder
Peale, now treasured by the Signer's great-great-grand-
son, Master George Walton Reab, of Summerville, near
Augusta, Georgia. It was from this likeness that the
engraved portrait was made which forms one of the
illustrations of the writer's second volume of the " His-
tory of Georgia."

This Commonwealth has named one of her counties
in honor of this patriot, who, as soldier, statesman, judge,
legislator, senator, governor, and signer, rendered ser-
vice varied and most valuable, leaving an impress
upon his age and generation which has suffered no
oblivion at the hands of intervening years.

JOHN WALTON.

With regard to this member of the old Congress
we have been able to gather but little information.
A brother of the Honorable George Walton, he was
born in Virginia about 1738. To the Provincial Con-
gress which assembled at Savannah on the 4th of July,
1775, he was a Delegate representing the Parish of St.
Paul. On the 20th of July of the previous year, in
association with Noble W. Jones, Archibald Bulloch,
and John Iloustoun, he signed the public call which
convoked the liberty-loving citizens of Georgia, under
the eye and in defiance of the protest of the Royal
Governor. Of the Executive Council, chosen when
John Adam Treutlen was elected first Republican Gov-
ernor, he was a member. By the General Assembly of
Georgia Mr. Walton was, on the 26th of February,
1778, commissioned as a Delegate to the Continental
Congress.

His home was then at New Savannah, situated in
the county of Richmond, on the Savannah River, not
many miles below the town of Augusta. Here he
owned and cultivated a plantation, the principal market
crop of which was indigo. As we write, one of his let-
ters lies before us, written from this place, dated on
the 21st of January, 1777, and addressed to the Honor-
able Edward Telfair. In this communication Mr. Walton
advises that gentleman of a shipment of indigo he had
recently made to him, and bespeaks his best efforts in
effecting advantageous sale of the consignment.

200 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

For a number of years Mr. Walton held the office of
Surveyor of Richmond County. He died at New Sa-
vannah in 1783. His will is now of file in the Ordi-
nary's Office in Augusta. It is dated the 11th of June,
1778, and was admitted to probate on the 24th of
June, 1783. George Walton, William Glascock, and
Britton Dawson were named as executors. He left a
considerable estate, consisting of lands and negroes.
The maiden name of his wife was Elizabeth Claiborne.
Several children were born of this marriage, and their
descendants may be found in Georgia to the present
day.

JOSEPH WOOD.

He is said to have been a Pennsylvanian by birth.
In 1774 he was a resident of the town of Sunbury, in
the Parish of St. John and State of Georgia. Repudi-
ating the conclusions of the Provincial meeting of the
10th of August, 1774, which, although patriotic in their
character, did not culminate in placing Georgia in full
affiliation with her twelve sisters and in commissioning
Delegates to the Continental Congress, the inhabitants
of the Parish of St. John resolved to act independently
and in advance of the rest of the Colony. On the 9th
of February, Joseph Wood, Daniel Roberts, and Sam-
uel Stevens — members of the Parish committee — were
deputed with a carefully prepared letter to repair to
Charlestown and request of the Committee of Corre-
spondence their " permission to form an alliance with
them, and to conduct trade and commerce according to
the act of non-importation to which they had already
acceded."

Reaching Charlestown on the 23d of February,
Messrs. Wood, Roberts, and Stevens waited upon the
General Committee and earnestly endeavored to accom-
plish their mission. While admiring the patriotism of
the Parish, and entreating its citizens to persevere in
their laudable exertions, the Carolinians, deeming it " a
violation of the Continental Association to remove the
prohibition in favor of any part of a Province," declined
the application.

202 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

Nothing daunted, the inhabitants of St. John's Par-
ish " resolved to prosecute their claims to an equality
with the Confederated Colonies," and commissioned
Dr. Lyman Hall to represent them in the Continental
Congress. Returning to Pennsylvania during the early
portion of the Revolutionary War, Mr. Wood entered
the Continental service with the Second Pennsylvania
Regiment. His promotion was rapid. He was advanced
to a Majority on the 4th of January, 1776, to a Lieu-
tenant-Colonelcy on the 29th of July in the same year,
and to a full Colonelcy on the 7th of September, 1776.

Toward the close of that year, Colonel Wood was
again in Georgia, where he was cordially welcomed. In
January, 1777, he was elected a Delegate from Georgia
to the Continental Congress, and this compliment was
repeated in February of the following year.

His plantation was on North New Port River, not far
from the village of Riceboro, in Liberty County (for-
merly St John's Parish). The tradition of Colonel
Wood's unblemished life and manly virtues still lingers
in the community. Joseph Wood departed this life at
his plantation in Liberty County, Georgia, in 1791.
His will was probated on the 2d of October in that
year. His widow, Catholina, two sons, John and Jacob,
and two daughters, Hester and Elizabeth, are therein
named as legatees and devisees.

JOHN JOACHIM ZUBLY.

A native of St Gall, Switzerland, where he was born
on the 27th of August, 1724, Mr. Zubly was engaged
in the discharge of clerical duties at Wando Neck, in
the Province of South Carolina, when, on the 25th of
April, 1758, he received and accepted a call to a large
and influential Presbyterian congregation in Savannah,
Georgia. It was not, however, until 1760 that he en-
tered fully upon his pastoral charge of that Independent
Presbyterian Church. He was a clergyman of marked
ability, eloquence, and learning ; preaching with equal
ease and power in the German, French, and English
languages. A rigid disciple of Calvin, he was tireless
in the discharge of his professional labors. Under his
guidance, his congregation became the most numerous
and popular within the limits of Georgia. In 1770 he
was complimented by Princeton College with the de-
gree of Doctor of Divinity.

By an act of the Colonial Legislature, approved on
the 17th of March, 1758, Georgia was divided into
Parishes, and the patronage of the Crown was specially
extended in aid of churches professing the Episcopal
faith. While not favored by exclusive recognition, the
purpose appeared to be to accord to that denomina-
tion, within the limits of Georgia, a prestige akin to
that which the Church of England enjoyed within
the realm ; to create certain offices and provide emolu-
ments for the encouragement of that religious persua-

204 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

sion, and the extension of the gospel in accordance
with its forms of worship and mode of government ;
and to prescribe a method by which faithful registers
of births, marriages, christenings, and deaths might be
kept and perpetuated. Numerous were the Dissenters
then in the Province. They were represented by Pres-
byterians, Lutherans, Congregationalists, Methodists,
a few Baptists, and some Hebrews. To all sects save
Papists was free toleration accorded ; and whenever a
Dissenting congregation organized and applied for a
grant of land whereon to build a church, the petition
did not pass unheeded. There can be no doubt, how-
ever, that it was the intention of the Government,
both Royal and Colonial, to engraft the Church of Eng-
land upon the Province, and, within certain limits,
to advance its prosperity and insure its permanency.
At the same time an adherence to its rubrics was in no
wise made a condition precedent to political preferment.
Despite the advantage thus enjoyed by the Episco-
pal Church, so popular was Mr. Zubly as a preacher,
and so acceptable were his ministrations, that he soon
attracted many of the leading citizens of Savannah.
So catholic were his views, so pronounced was the
interest which he exhibited in public affairs, and so
manifest were his sympathies with the protestants
against the arbitrary acts of Parliament that his influ-
ence as a citizen and a lover of liberty was felt beyond
the limits of his pulpit and congregation. As a com-
pliment to the man, and to the position which he then
occupied, he was elected a Delegate to the Provincial
Congress which assembled in Savannah on the 4th
of July, 1775. Before and at the opening of that
Congress, he delivered a sermon on American affairs,

JOHN JOACHIM ZUBLY. 205

entitled " The Law of Liberty/' which may be accepted
as a fair specimen of the composition and manly thought
of this eloquent and accomplished divine. When
printed by Henry Miller, of Philadelphia, it was pre-
faced by a forcible and conclusive plea for the liberties
of America, embodied in a communication addressed
by Mr. Zubly to the Right Honorable the Earl of Dart-
mouth.

By this Congress Dr. Zubly, in association with John
Houstoun, Archibald Bulloch, Noble W. Jones, and Dr.
Lyman Hall, was chosen to represent the Province of
Georgia in the Continental Congress. Upon a sugges-
tion from him that he was greatly surprised at being
selected as a Delegate, and that he could not accept
the honor without the consent of his congregation,
Messrs. Noble W. Jones and John Houstoun were ap-
pointed a committee to interview the members of Dr.
Zubly's church and request their permission that he
absent himself from his charge for a season, in order
that he might perform the important duties devolved
upon him by the Congress. Four days afterwards those
gentlemen reported that they had conferred with the
congregation, and that the members expressed a wil-
lingness " to spare their minister for a time for the good
of the common cause." Dr. Zubly thereupon declared
his acceptance of the appointment, and thanked the
Congress for this mark of honor and confidence.

By this Congress the Reverend Doctor Zubly was
placed upon four important committees, — one to pre-
pare a petition to the King " upon the present un-
happy situation of affairs ; " another to address a letter
to the President of the Continental Congress, acquaint-
ing him fully with the proceedings of this Provincial

206 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

Congress; a third to frame an address to His Excel-
lency Governor Wright ; and a fourth to constitute a
Committee of Intelligence.

From the addresses then prepared we reproduce the
following : —

" To the Inhabitants of the Province of Georgia :

" Fellow-Countrymen, — We are directed to transmit
to you an account of the present state of American
affairs, as well as the proceedings of the late Provincial
Congress.

u It is with great sorrow we are to acquaint you
that what our fears suggested, but our reason thought
impossible, is actually come to pass.

" A civil war in America is begun. Several engage-
ments have already happened. The friends and foes
of America have been equally disappointed. The
friends of America were in hopes British troops could
never be induced to slay their brethren. It is, how-
ever, done, and the circumstances are such as must be
an everlasting blot on their character for humanity and
generosity. An unfeeling commander has found means
to inspire his troops with the same evil spirit that
possesseth himself After the starving, helpless, inno-
cent inhabitants of Boston delivered up their arms and
received his promise that they might leave that virtu-
ous, devoted town, he is said to have broke his word ;
and the wretched inhabitants are still kept to fall a
prey to disease, famine, and confinement. If there are
powers which abhor injustice and oppression, it may
be hoped such perfidy cannot go long unpunished.

" But the enemies of America have been no less dis-
appointed. Nothing was so contemptible in their eyes

JOHN JOACHIM ZUBLY. 207

as the rabble of an American militia; nothing more
improbable than that they would dare to look regulars
in the face, or stand a single fire. By this time they
must have felt how much they were mistaken. In
every engagement the Americans appeared with a
bravery worthy of men that fight for the liberties of
their oppressed country. Their success has been re-
markable ; the number of the slain and wounded on
every occasion vastly exceeded theirs ; and the advan-
tages they gained are the more honourable because,
with a patience that scarce has an example, they bore
every act of injustice and insult till their lives were
attacked, and then gave the fullest proof that the man
of calmness and moderation in counsel is usually the
most intrepid and courageous in battle.

"You will doubtless lament with us the hundreds
that died in their country's cause ; but does it not call
for greater sorrow that thousands of British soldiers
sought and found their deaths when they were active
to enslave their brethren and their country? How-
ever irritating all these proceedings, yet so unnatural
is this quarrel that every good man must wish and
pray that it may soon cease ; that the injured rights
of America may be vindicated by milder means j and
that no more blood may be shed, unless it be of those
who fomented, and mean to make an advantage of,
these unhappy divisions.

u From the proceedings of the Congress, a copy of
which accompanies the present, you will be convinced
that a reconciliation on honorable principles is an
object which your Delegates never lost sight of. We
have sent an humble and manly petition to his Ma-
jesty j addressed his representative, our Governor ; pro-

208 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

vided, as far as in our power, for internal quiet and
safety; and Delegates will soon attend the General
Congress to assist and cooperate in any measure that
shall be thought necessary for the saving of America.

" His Excellency, at our request, having appointed
the 19th inst. as a Day of Humiliation, and news being
afterwards received that the Continental Congress had
recommended the 20th inst. to be observed as such,
both days have been observed with a becoming solem-
nity ; and we humbly hope many earnest prayers have
been presented to the Father of Mercies on that day
through this extensive continent, and that He has
heard the cries of the destitute, and will not despise
their prayers.

" You will permit us most earnestly to recommend
to you a steady perseverance in the cause of Liberty,
and that you will use all possible caution not to say
or do anything unworthy of so glorious a cause ; to
promote frugality, peace, and good order ; and, in the
practice of every social and religious duty, patiently
to wait the return of that happy day when we may
quietly sit under our vine and fig-tree, and no man
make us afraid."

We make no apology for presenting this address in
extensoy because with its composition the pen of Dr.
Zubly is credited, and because it shows how earnestly,
at this epoch in his career, his sympathies were en-
listed in behalf of American freedom.
. Of the five Delegates thus selected by the Provincial
Congress to represent Georgia in the Continental Con-
gress, Messrs. Zubly, Bulloch, and Houstoun repaired
to Philadelphia, and participated in the deliberations

JOHN JOACHIM ZUBLY. 209

of that body, at an adjourned session held in Septem-
ber. Dr. Lyman Hall, who had been present at a
previous meeting as a Delegate commissioned by the
Parish of St. Paul, was now absent ; and Dr. Noble W.
Jones, than whom the " Sons of Liberty " claimed none
more competent, courageous, and accomplished, — in
deference to the entreaties of his aged father, Colonel
Noble Jones, a faithful servant of the Crown, who,
trembling upon the verge of the grave, bespoke the
companionship of his distinguished and devoted son,
— postponed for the while his service to the Province
in this prominent capacity, that he might respond to
his filial obligations.

Georgia was ably represented. From the inception
of the disagreements between Great Britain and her
American Colonies, Archibald Bulloch had been a firm
friend to the liberties of America. No one stood
higher in the respect and affection of his fellow-citi-
zens, and for him the most pronounced honors were
in store. John Houstoun, too, was among the most
zealous advocates of the rights of the Colonies. Of
honorable descent and liberal education, of admitted
bravery and commanding influence, his memory is as-
sociated with some of the best traditions of the epoch,
and of the community in which he dwelt.

Of the early labors of the Reverend Dr. Zubly in
the cause of freedom, education, and religion, we may
not speak except in praise. His course in the first
Continental Congress which he attended was consis-
tent and patriotic. The acceptable pastor of a large
Presbyterian congregation in Savannah, — scholarly,
gifted in speech, public-spirited, and of marked abil-
ity, — his voice and pen had been freely employed in

14

210 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

the vindication of the rights of the Colonies against
the encroachments of Parliament Discussing the sug-
gestions made in England to arm the slaves in order
to reduce their masters to obedience to British rule, he
wrote to the Earl of Dartmouth as follows : a Proposals
publicly made by ministerial writers relative to Ameri-
can domestics laid the Southern Provinces under the
necessity of arming themselves. A proposal to put it
in the power of domestics to cut the throats of their
masters can only serve to cover the proposers and
abettors with everlasting infamy. The Americans
have been called ' a rope of sand/ but blood and sand
will make a firm cementation ; and enough American
blood has been already shed to cement them together
into a threefold cord not easily to be broken." In
the deliberations and utterances of the Provincial
Congress in Savannah no member had borne a more
prominent part

When, however, at a subsequent session of the Con-
tinental Congress, he found himself confronted with a
determination on the part of its members to sever the
ties binding the American Colonies to the Mother
Country, and to erect on these shores a separate, inde-
pendent, and republican confederation, his heart failed
him, and, opening a correspondence with Sir James
Wright, he revealed to him the plans of Congress, and
warned him of the impending rupture. His conduct
and language exciting suspicion, he was watched, and
one of his treasonable letters was seized. This fact was
brought to the notice of Congress by Mr. Chase, of
Maryland. So alarmed became Dr. Zubly that, precip-
itately abandoning his seat, he returned to Georgia,
where, taking sides against the liberty people, he

JOHN JOACHIM ZUBLY. 211

became so obnoxious that, in 1777, he was banished
from Savannah, with the loss of half his estate. Taking
refuge in South Carolina, he there remained until the
Royal government was, in 1779, reestablished in South-
ern Georgia. Then, returning to Savannah, he re-
sumed his ministerial labors, and there abode until his
death, which occurred on the 23d of July, 1781. Bro-
ken in heart and fortune, the latest years of his life
involved a ceaseless struggle with misfortune. "His
political defection," says Dr. Stevens, " while it did no
harm to Georgia or the Colonies, brought misery upon
himself and family, and tarnished a name which shone
among the earlier patriots of Georgia with peculiar
brightness. Savannah still bears the record of this
learned man in the names of two of its streets, i Joa-
chim ' and ' Zubly,' and one of the hamlets of the city
is called ' St Gall/ in honor of his birthplace in Swit-
zerland."

His declaration, in his place in the Continental Con-
gress, that " a republic was little better than a gov-
ernment of devils," and his subsequent desertion of
his post to seek shelter under the authority of the
Crown, were but the prelude to unhappiness, disgrace,
and an early grave.

There was an oil portrait of this member of the Old
Congress, but unfortunately, many years ago, it was
accidentally destroyed by fire.

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